Published on Feb 8, 2014 This is the first of three Optimist dinghies we are making from CABBS (Cleveland Amateur Boatbuilding and Boating Society) plans. The plans have been redrawn from Clark Mills original drawings for the Optimist in 1947. Check out www.woodenoptimist.blogspot.com to see more about building this sailboat
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Tampilkan postingan dengan label 1. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label 1. Tampilkan semua postingan
Jumat, 08 April 2016
Kamis, 07 April 2016
HYC Cruise Day 1 July 25 City island to Port Jefferson on Long Island 39 Miles
Every cruise has some boats that try as they might, just cant make it for mechanical or personal reasons. This year, so far, it has been Paul and Mary on "Little Jumps", a victim of the press of business. I use to be a slave to the law so I know. We will miss you.
The day was warm and sunny; well you know, pretty much the same as back in Eastchester Bay.
Mark and Marsha of "Leeds the Way", spent Friday night in Oyster Bay to make a shorter sail today. They got to the mooring field of the Seatauket YC in the 2 to 2:30 time frame. As did "True North" who motored from the Harlem.
ILENE, left the HYC mooring field at 7:30 in a dead calm and put up the main for almost the whole way and one or the other or parts of both headsails for most of the way -- after a bit of wind stirred the surface of the water. So we motor sailed almost the whole way. The problem was that the wind was from the east, where all the boats were heading. Motor sailing took us from Huntington, Long Island to Norwalk, CT and back across the Sound again to Port Jeff, arriving a bit after three.
And thats why Leeds the Way and ILENE were the only ones able to enjoy the wonderful cocktail party that True North hosted, starting at 5 pm.
PC Mark, Marcia, Lene, Diane and PC Bruce. Im the photographer and I kinda like the diagonal of the heads though this was purely accidental.
But we three were not the only Harlem boats here in Port Jeff. The rest just arrived too late for the party: PC Ernie and Camille and their guests, pc Marty and Ghenie, on "Blast", Dan and Mary Jane on " Tively II" and CJ and Jenny on "Shanghai" (who sailed with us and the Hermione on the Fourth of July).
Shanghai wins todays award for most intrepid sailing, not motor sailing but sailing. They had a long day.
Tomorrow, Leeds the Way and Tively IIs schedules require them to turn back but the armada is headed for a two night stay in Mattituck, LI. Unfortunately, ILENE will be there with them for only the second night. A funeral for a dear friends son means we will spend Sunday in a rental car, catching up with the fleet on Monday.
Senin, 04 April 2016
December 25 and 26 Vero Beach to Lake Worth Then to Ft Lauderdale 48 1 and 54 Miles
These two rather longer passages were quite different because the first was inside, cold and dry while the second was out in the ocean, warm and rainy.
On both days we got underway a few minutes after seven but we dropped the anchor at 4:15 the first day and 3:00 the second. More miles in less time.
The ICW requires attention to detail and while we flew the small jib for speed, we could have profited from the larger genoa except that the wind was generally directly behind us so that the self tacking smaller head-sail gybed back and forth as minor wind changes and course variations took place. With the genoa such gybes would have been a major problem. One of the myriad beautiful homes we passed.
There was very little other traffic on Christmas morning and we wished a merry Christmas to the bridge tenders of the low bridges when requesting openings. Bridges were the major frustration, causing delay and providing the days "moment of terror". When we called to alert the tenders that we were coming from the north and request openings, most of the tenders, who these days are mostly ladies, told us to maintain speed -- they would open for us when we got there. One failed to live up to this promise and at the last minute, moving at almost seven knots, three of them provided by a favorable current, I had to slam into reverse gear, hard, to avoid breaking our mast against the not yet opened bridge. A moment of terror. We normally thank the tenders for the openings.
We also had to wait for three of the bridges to open because they open only on request but only on the hour and half, or at 15 and 45 minutes after the hour. I have written in large print on our paper charts whether each bridge is "High" or "Low" and if low, its name, (needed to hail it to request an opening) and what its schedule of openings is, or "on demand". But what I have yet to do is calculate the nautical miles between each pair of bridges with schedules so that we can regulate our speed to arrive "on time."
One cant get there late and early is bad too, because the current is sometimes trying to push you under the closed bridge. And I learned through experience yesterday that a 1:30 pm opening does not mean that the bridge will actually be open at 1:30. Rather, the whistle sounds then that the gates will be coming down and only after all the traffic has passed and the gates lowered does the bridge begin to slowly swing upwards. So our ability to pass will not occur until 1:35 and an additional five minutes of fighting the current has to be built in together with a five minute delay in starting toward the next bridge. I hope it does not sound like Im whining about the bridges; actually I write to give you a sense of the challenges we embrace.
I tried to rendezvous with Dave of the Harlem YC, who was visiting in the Deerfield Beach area but our plans were thwarted by a failure of communications. Lake Worth, Florida, is a city that appears on land maps. But the lake in question is quite long and our anchorage was in a cove at the extreme north end, in Palm Beach actually. This extra drive, the difficulty in finding a restaurant open on Christmas night and the problem of directing Dave to a parking spot near the dinghy dock of a place I had never been before all conspired to prevent the rendezvous. I changed the oil instead. And after a long day, we had a quiet evening aboard and did not lower the dinghy. I won at rummy and Lene won at casino, as usual.
The anchorage is quite large with many boats and room for many more. And it is surrounded by private residences including many high rises and a marina where mega yachts stay, like those in Antigua, St. Maartens and St. Barts, and, well, Fort Lauderdale. We are in the crowded wealthy part of Atlantic South Florida. Many of the people up the coast told us they felt that they had escaped from here.
(The only time I was ever in the Lake Worth anchorage before was briefly, aboard m/v Sea Leaf, in the spring of 2012. heading north, I had continued straight into the anchorage instead of making a left turn to continue up the ICW. All of the thousands of reds and greens that mark the ICW have a distinctive yellow square to distinguish them from non-ICW buoys, like those marking the channel into the anchorage. But I did not know that then. I sensed that something was wrong, however, and the captain confirmed it and we turned around.)
The next day we avoided about twenty bridges by going outside in the Atlantic from the Lake Worth Inlet to the Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) Inlet. One high bridge before transit through a busy commercial port on the way out and one low bridge with half hour openings on request at the other end, which we made without a significant wait. And once out, our course was essentially a straight line, an average of about .7 miles off the coast. Actually the coast here curves slightly to the west so we added a few degrees to the west as we got further south. At first the wind was from the west, not the north-northeast, as had been predicted. And then it was confused and near absent. But by nine a.m. the wind came in from the predicted direction and the apparent wind was a bit more east, about ten to twenty degrees aft of ILENEs port beam. We used full main and genoa; how long has it been since last we used them -- before Thanksgiving on the overnight passage to the St. Marys River. With apparent wind in the teens we were making better than seven knots, with autopilot steering.
We overtook one sailboat. It first appeared as a speck before us on the horizon. Soon it became apparent that it was a sailboat. Her mast kept getting taller as measured against the slot between the upper and lower rails of ILENEs bow pulpit. She was not even visible behind us when we turned in. We passed another sailboat being towed north by Sea Tow and I felt so sorry for him. We passed the condo where my parents lived in Pompano Beach. We passed four huge freighters anchored out at sea. The rain was mostly light but decreased visibility to the beach, though you can see it in the photo below.
A brief heavy downpour occurred just as we were furling the headsail to turn right into the inlet.
But it was warm so the rain was not unpleasant, though it chased Lene and the paper charts below. If I do not look like a happy camper to you, your impression is mistaken.
Lots of big traffic in and out of Port Everglades. We saw this guy miles away, heading west toward the inlet as we came south.
Two of these funny looking rectangularish tugs came out to greet her and push her in just behind us, honking us further to the red side of the channel.
We hugged the eastern shore tightly going in and at mid tide saw no less than 7.8 feet of water during the entry. As soon as we were secured, on 50 feet of chain in eleven feet of water, the rain stopped and the drying process could begin. The cats began their mutual bathing ritual. We were the 17th boat in the lake, with room for more. (Sorry about this font.)
We spent a week in Lake Sylvia in the Spring of 2012 but this time we are planning to stay most of our time in Fort Lauderdale at Cooleys Landing, a municipal marina in the New River, next to Riverwalk and two blocks from Las Olas Boulevard. I guess we are just city people at heart, though we do enjoy nature too, like this Lake Sylvia sunset.
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On both days we got underway a few minutes after seven but we dropped the anchor at 4:15 the first day and 3:00 the second. More miles in less time.
The ICW requires attention to detail and while we flew the small jib for speed, we could have profited from the larger genoa except that the wind was generally directly behind us so that the self tacking smaller head-sail gybed back and forth as minor wind changes and course variations took place. With the genoa such gybes would have been a major problem. One of the myriad beautiful homes we passed.
We also had to wait for three of the bridges to open because they open only on request but only on the hour and half, or at 15 and 45 minutes after the hour. I have written in large print on our paper charts whether each bridge is "High" or "Low" and if low, its name, (needed to hail it to request an opening) and what its schedule of openings is, or "on demand". But what I have yet to do is calculate the nautical miles between each pair of bridges with schedules so that we can regulate our speed to arrive "on time."
One cant get there late and early is bad too, because the current is sometimes trying to push you under the closed bridge. And I learned through experience yesterday that a 1:30 pm opening does not mean that the bridge will actually be open at 1:30. Rather, the whistle sounds then that the gates will be coming down and only after all the traffic has passed and the gates lowered does the bridge begin to slowly swing upwards. So our ability to pass will not occur until 1:35 and an additional five minutes of fighting the current has to be built in together with a five minute delay in starting toward the next bridge. I hope it does not sound like Im whining about the bridges; actually I write to give you a sense of the challenges we embrace.
I tried to rendezvous with Dave of the Harlem YC, who was visiting in the Deerfield Beach area but our plans were thwarted by a failure of communications. Lake Worth, Florida, is a city that appears on land maps. But the lake in question is quite long and our anchorage was in a cove at the extreme north end, in Palm Beach actually. This extra drive, the difficulty in finding a restaurant open on Christmas night and the problem of directing Dave to a parking spot near the dinghy dock of a place I had never been before all conspired to prevent the rendezvous. I changed the oil instead. And after a long day, we had a quiet evening aboard and did not lower the dinghy. I won at rummy and Lene won at casino, as usual.
The anchorage is quite large with many boats and room for many more. And it is surrounded by private residences including many high rises and a marina where mega yachts stay, like those in Antigua, St. Maartens and St. Barts, and, well, Fort Lauderdale. We are in the crowded wealthy part of Atlantic South Florida. Many of the people up the coast told us they felt that they had escaped from here.
(The only time I was ever in the Lake Worth anchorage before was briefly, aboard m/v Sea Leaf, in the spring of 2012. heading north, I had continued straight into the anchorage instead of making a left turn to continue up the ICW. All of the thousands of reds and greens that mark the ICW have a distinctive yellow square to distinguish them from non-ICW buoys, like those marking the channel into the anchorage. But I did not know that then. I sensed that something was wrong, however, and the captain confirmed it and we turned around.)
The next day we avoided about twenty bridges by going outside in the Atlantic from the Lake Worth Inlet to the Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) Inlet. One high bridge before transit through a busy commercial port on the way out and one low bridge with half hour openings on request at the other end, which we made without a significant wait. And once out, our course was essentially a straight line, an average of about .7 miles off the coast. Actually the coast here curves slightly to the west so we added a few degrees to the west as we got further south. At first the wind was from the west, not the north-northeast, as had been predicted. And then it was confused and near absent. But by nine a.m. the wind came in from the predicted direction and the apparent wind was a bit more east, about ten to twenty degrees aft of ILENEs port beam. We used full main and genoa; how long has it been since last we used them -- before Thanksgiving on the overnight passage to the St. Marys River. With apparent wind in the teens we were making better than seven knots, with autopilot steering.
We overtook one sailboat. It first appeared as a speck before us on the horizon. Soon it became apparent that it was a sailboat. Her mast kept getting taller as measured against the slot between the upper and lower rails of ILENEs bow pulpit. She was not even visible behind us when we turned in. We passed another sailboat being towed north by Sea Tow and I felt so sorry for him. We passed the condo where my parents lived in Pompano Beach. We passed four huge freighters anchored out at sea. The rain was mostly light but decreased visibility to the beach, though you can see it in the photo below.
But it was warm so the rain was not unpleasant, though it chased Lene and the paper charts below. If I do not look like a happy camper to you, your impression is mistaken.
Lots of big traffic in and out of Port Everglades. We saw this guy miles away, heading west toward the inlet as we came south.
Two of these funny looking rectangularish tugs came out to greet her and push her in just behind us, honking us further to the red side of the channel.
We hugged the eastern shore tightly going in and at mid tide saw no less than 7.8 feet of water during the entry. As soon as we were secured, on 50 feet of chain in eleven feet of water, the rain stopped and the drying process could begin. The cats began their mutual bathing ritual. We were the 17th boat in the lake, with room for more. (Sorry about this font.)Selasa, 29 Maret 2016
January 21 Rodriguez Key to Marathon 49 1 Miles
Sunrise at Rodriguez was with glassy water.
This big ugly storm was east of us but once we rounded Rodriguez, we headed west, away from it.
Hawk channel has many small round crab trap floats. Not as many as Maine has lobster pots, but enough that one has to keep a careful watch to avoid hitting them. I guess the crabs like to live in water that is 20 - 25 feet deep, where we like to sail, because that is where the traps are. I have been told that the crabs, whose legs folks like to eat, have an unusual ability -- to regenerate lost limbs. So the watermen pull off one claw and throw the critters back into the sea to live another day and grow another claw.
We passed the 65 foot high Channel Five Bridge, under which we could have passed to the Gulf of Mexico side of the Keys, but for the fact that once we get there, the water gets too shallow for us. You can see the former low bridge, removed at the highest spans. And a crab pot is in the photo, the white dot.
Marathons municipal Marina has dockage for perhaps 20 boats and 260 moorings. But that is not enough, because we were placed as number 14 on their waiting list and told where we could anchor in the harbor. There was a low bascule bridge across the harbor that we had prepared to hail, but the bascule center span of that bridge has been taken down since our chart was printed. Im not really happy with the crowded nature of the anchorage area, and we may decide to go outside the harbor and anchor west of the island where there is lots of room for a longer scope, if stronger winds come.
We registered and paid for dinghy dock privileges for a week and got a paper wrist band that we attached to the dink showing that we have paid (to be credited against mooring fees is we get a mooring, pro rata for the number of days in each status). We unloaded garbage, bought and mailed a postcard to my grand daughter, got some Benadryl for Lenes sun rash, learned where to fill our propane tank, filled four of our one gallon bottles of drinking water ($.05 per gallon), and did three loads of laundry.
We met Katrina, from Annapolis, on the dock. She is aboard an Island Packet, "Sea Monkey" with her son for a week while her husband is doing his reserve duty. And while dinking back to ILENE we saw another Saga 43, "Remora," our first this trip, and introduced ourselves to the owners. More, later.
We have heard so much about this place from Dean and Susan of Autumn Born. They, as do many others, like to stay here for months. With a waiting period for a mooring, it pays to stay rather than give up your mooring to move on. A mooring rental of $300 per month is easy on the budget. This is not St. Maarten where egomaniacal big spending boaters go seemingly for the primary purpose of being seen by others. This is more a harbor for older and smaller boats. It has a "homey" feel to it. We will learn a lot more in the morning when the boaters all talk on a net on VHF 68 at 9 am.
Kamis, 17 Maret 2016
December 27 to January 1 Lake Sylvia to Cooleys Landing and Five Lay Days in Fort Lauderdale 2 9 Miles
Our short passage from an anchorage east of the ICW to a municipal marina up the New River to its west took place early in the morning, timed for our arrival to coincide at slack tide at our destination, at 7:30. The New is a natural river with deep enough water way up past Cooleys Landing. It has been dredged and is lined by boats on both sides, and very expensive homes. It twists extensively and is narrow. It is because our dock is perpendicular to the shore line that we had to arrive at slack -- to avoid being pushed past the slip by the tidal current at other times. Our slip is at the edge of Fort Lauderdales Riverwalk, with its arts district, close to the intersection of Las Olas Boulevard and Andrews Avenue. These streets divide the town into its four quadrants, NE, etc., i.e., the heart of town. The marina is inexpensive with good showers and wifi; its drawback was the inattentive staff. We got help tying up from a neighboring boat because the staff, who had promised to help us tie up, was no where to be hailed or found, and they did not check us in until the next day. The dock master, Matt, is helpful but his subordinates are not.
Getting here we passed under four bridges, each about a city block apart, which open on request. Well, one is for the railroad and is always open except when a train comes along. We were lucky to arrive on a weekend day because the bridges do not open during designated ninety minute periods at the morning and evening rush hours on weekdays -- and the slack was during that 90 minute period. ILENE is the boat at the left, closest to the bridge, shown at the right. View of the arts center is blocked by the tall condo.
This next view is from the bridge with ILENE the boat on the right.
The drawback to being so close to The Marshall Bridge, named after the towns first Mayor, is that it opens and closes with a clanging bell and each car that drives across makes a loud noise on the central span which is a metal grate; but this is no worse than the traffic on Broadway and
Fourth Avenue, which serenades us at home -- we city slickers are inured to noise.
The most exciting thing happened one afternoon: the subject of the next days headlines. In addition to the four bridges there is an overhead power cable, stated on the chart to be 80 feet above the water, so of no concern to us. But a sailboat with a 75 foot high mast (or he said it was that high) hit the cable and broke it, with the ends falling into the river and shutting down a good part of the city for several hours until power could be restored. The newspapers reported that there was a loud explosion but we did not hear it. A police boat hovered off our stern, shutting traffic on the river for several hours.
Several of our activities here involved Lenes cousin, Naomi and her family. We had thought to do more with them but Naomi broke her pelvis a few days before we arrived so instead of fun activities we visited her in a Rehabilitation Center a couple of times. Each of her sons, Jeffrey and Alan, and her granddaughter, Carly, who is a Vet student came to the boat, for breakfast, to hang out, and for a trip by dink, a mile and a half further up the New River, to a shipyard where they work on mega yachts.
And this is a mega in transit down the river, with one tug pulling at the bow and another pulling and steering from the stern.
We also took in a performance of the State Ballet of Russia at the Parker Playhouse, a 1000 seat auditorium a cab ride away.
It was Sunday afternoon, with the Dolphins playing so we had a good shot at getting tickets at the door.
The program was excerpts from three Tchaikovsky ballets and the performance was skillful. One dance I had never seen was called the cat dance from the Sleeping Beauty; living with cats we saw how accurately and cutely the choreographer had mimicked their movements.
Another day involved a trip to the Galleria Mall where the Apple store is, to replace the one Lene droped. We had Apple insurance so it did not cost an arm and a leg. The mall was 3.7 miles away per Mapquest, but after half a mile Lene balked at the walk and we discovered that the Number 40 bus ran from nearby to the mall for 85 cents for a senior. And while there, the food court provided great salads for lunch.
We did some other shopping and were picked up by Dick and Elle, former Harlemites who are selling their trawler and have sold their home in NJ for a home in an over-55 community in Boynton Beach. Dick is a Past Commodore of the Club. We were the first Harlemites to meet Elle when they came into a dock at a marina in Baltimore during May of 2006. Dick and Elle were the first Harlemites to see ILENE afloat. Dinner was at the Bimini Boatyard (more posh than the boatyards in Bimini where we stayed in 2012). They drove us back to the boat and for coffee here. In the summer of 2010 they met me and gave me a list of their favorite places to stay on the ICW, many of which we have now visited. Im very thankful for their help.
Naomi had joked that she was running a parcel service for us, and we took possession of about a dozen boxes: repair parts, cat food, mail from home, etc. And then we stowed it and iustalled the new and larger club burgee to replace the old one which had been whipped into shreds by the wind. Also a replacement dog to fasten down a side opening port. The old one had been tightened by pliers after its bakelite knob broke off about two years ago. It was not until the Annapolis Boat Show that I saw that the ports were made by Hood and ordered a new knob. And while at at, I cleaned and waxed the stainless of the starboard side ports.
Jeff took us to dinner at a local restaurant called Tarpon Bend. While enjoying blackened mahi tacos, I had the pleasure of informing our waitress how her restaurant got its name. She guessed that it was after the tarpon fish, but the first bend on the New River is called Tarpon Bend.
New Years eve was about as non posh as one can get. The number 10 bus took us to a movie theater up on Sunrise Boulevard where we saw The Imitation Game. Not bad but it would have been better if they showed the three sets of scenes: (a) at boarding school in the 1922s, (b) during the war and (c) in the early 50s -- in chronological order instead of slicing them to bits and jumbling them together. My theory is that if your story is good enough, and this one had two stories, one about code breaking and the other about Alan Turings personal relations, you dont need flashbacks. Its sort of like The Love Boat, that TVshow. Each week they had three weak stories about
relationships among the passengers and crew, but by jumbling them they made it seem more interesting. Down, Roger! Get off that soap box!
Our non posh evening continued after the movie: Dinner at Burger King, bus ride back, walk through the five block long stretch of 2nd Street barricaded and with 20 stands selling beer and bombarded with ultra loud recorded music, in preparation for the throng to watch the ball drop at midnight, and home asleep in our berth from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Our final night here was a family dinner at Islamorada Fish Company with all of Naomis family except, alas, Naomi.
Carly, Jeff, Mary, Roger and Lene.
A better view of Carly and her three legged rescue dog, Mulligan.
Next stop Miami.
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Getting here we passed under four bridges, each about a city block apart, which open on request. Well, one is for the railroad and is always open except when a train comes along. We were lucky to arrive on a weekend day because the bridges do not open during designated ninety minute periods at the morning and evening rush hours on weekdays -- and the slack was during that 90 minute period. ILENE is the boat at the left, closest to the bridge, shown at the right. View of the arts center is blocked by the tall condo.
This next view is from the bridge with ILENE the boat on the right.The most exciting thing happened one afternoon: the subject of the next days headlines. In addition to the four bridges there is an overhead power cable, stated on the chart to be 80 feet above the water, so of no concern to us. But a sailboat with a 75 foot high mast (or he said it was that high) hit the cable and broke it, with the ends falling into the river and shutting down a good part of the city for several hours until power could be restored. The newspapers reported that there was a loud explosion but we did not hear it. A police boat hovered off our stern, shutting traffic on the river for several hours.
Several of our activities here involved Lenes cousin, Naomi and her family. We had thought to do more with them but Naomi broke her pelvis a few days before we arrived so instead of fun activities we visited her in a Rehabilitation Center a couple of times. Each of her sons, Jeffrey and Alan, and her granddaughter, Carly, who is a Vet student came to the boat, for breakfast, to hang out, and for a trip by dink, a mile and a half further up the New River, to a shipyard where they work on mega yachts.
And this is a mega in transit down the river, with one tug pulling at the bow and another pulling and steering from the stern.
We also took in a performance of the State Ballet of Russia at the Parker Playhouse, a 1000 seat auditorium a cab ride away.
It was Sunday afternoon, with the Dolphins playing so we had a good shot at getting tickets at the door.
The program was excerpts from three Tchaikovsky ballets and the performance was skillful. One dance I had never seen was called the cat dance from the Sleeping Beauty; living with cats we saw how accurately and cutely the choreographer had mimicked their movements.
Another day involved a trip to the Galleria Mall where the Apple store is, to replace the one Lene droped. We had Apple insurance so it did not cost an arm and a leg. The mall was 3.7 miles away per Mapquest, but after half a mile Lene balked at the walk and we discovered that the Number 40 bus ran from nearby to the mall for 85 cents for a senior. And while there, the food court provided great salads for lunch.
We did some other shopping and were picked up by Dick and Elle, former Harlemites who are selling their trawler and have sold their home in NJ for a home in an over-55 community in Boynton Beach. Dick is a Past Commodore of the Club. We were the first Harlemites to meet Elle when they came into a dock at a marina in Baltimore during May of 2006. Dick and Elle were the first Harlemites to see ILENE afloat. Dinner was at the Bimini Boatyard (more posh than the boatyards in Bimini where we stayed in 2012). They drove us back to the boat and for coffee here. In the summer of 2010 they met me and gave me a list of their favorite places to stay on the ICW, many of which we have now visited. Im very thankful for their help.
Naomi had joked that she was running a parcel service for us, and we took possession of about a dozen boxes: repair parts, cat food, mail from home, etc. And then we stowed it and iustalled the new and larger club burgee to replace the old one which had been whipped into shreds by the wind. Also a replacement dog to fasten down a side opening port. The old one had been tightened by pliers after its bakelite knob broke off about two years ago. It was not until the Annapolis Boat Show that I saw that the ports were made by Hood and ordered a new knob. And while at at, I cleaned and waxed the stainless of the starboard side ports.
Jeff took us to dinner at a local restaurant called Tarpon Bend. While enjoying blackened mahi tacos, I had the pleasure of informing our waitress how her restaurant got its name. She guessed that it was after the tarpon fish, but the first bend on the New River is called Tarpon Bend.
New Years eve was about as non posh as one can get. The number 10 bus took us to a movie theater up on Sunrise Boulevard where we saw The Imitation Game. Not bad but it would have been better if they showed the three sets of scenes: (a) at boarding school in the 1922s, (b) during the war and (c) in the early 50s -- in chronological order instead of slicing them to bits and jumbling them together. My theory is that if your story is good enough, and this one had two stories, one about code breaking and the other about Alan Turings personal relations, you dont need flashbacks. Its sort of like The Love Boat, that TVshow. Each week they had three weak stories about
relationships among the passengers and crew, but by jumbling them they made it seem more interesting. Down, Roger! Get off that soap box!
Our non posh evening continued after the movie: Dinner at Burger King, bus ride back, walk through the five block long stretch of 2nd Street barricaded and with 20 stands selling beer and bombarded with ultra loud recorded music, in preparation for the throng to watch the ball drop at midnight, and home asleep in our berth from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Our final night here was a family dinner at Islamorada Fish Company with all of Naomis family except, alas, Naomi.
A better view of Carly and her three legged rescue dog, Mulligan.
Rabu, 16 Maret 2016
Yellow boat 4 FPV camera view Purau New Zealand 2 1 14
Yellow boat 4 mostly Hobby King bits balsa epoxy fiber glass hull
http://kiwitricopter.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/3-hour-yellow-boat.html
Twin Turnigy 450 Series 3800KV Brushless Outrunner Helicopter Motor
RPM: 3800kv
Max Current: 35A
Max Power: 365W
2 X HobbyKing 30A BlueSeries Brushless Speed Controller with shared enlarged air cooled heatsink with an 30mm fan
Cont. Current: 30A
Burst Current: 40A
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=13429&aff=652823
coupled to modified NQD jet drives with flex shafts and custom 3 blade impellers
ZIPPY Compact 2700mAh 3S 25C Lipo Pack
Capacity: 2700mAh
Voltage: 3S1P / 3 Cell / 11.1V
Discharge: 25C Constant / 35C Burst
Weight: 203g (including wire, plug & case)
Dimensions: 137x15x44mm
Balance Plug: JST-XH
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=21349&aff=652823
Purau
https://www.google.co.nz/maps/preview#!q=Purau%2C+Canterbury&data=!4m15!2m14!1m13!1s0x6d322f14fc09c6a3%3A0x500ef868479e4b0!3m8!1m3!1d338144!2d175.3085223!3d-37.6203018!3m2!1i1366!2i642!4f13.1!4m2!3d-43.6390402!4d172.7489035
Yellow boat 4 FPV camera view Purau New Zealand 2-1-14 from nickatredbox on Vimeo.
January 11 15 Five More Lay Days in Coconut Grove 1 5 Miles
We spent four nights at a dock of the Coral Reef YC, after one more rough night on anchor in the John Brennan Channel way off from the Dinner Key Marina. We did not even go ashore the day after the botanical garden trip, because it was so rough. This Google Earth picture shows both locations and the route between them, which is not charted, in the northern half of its brief 1.5 miles. (The dinghy dock is clearly visible in the extreme lower left and the well marked Dinner Key Channel -- through which we entered and will leave -- runs in from below the yellow humanoid figure in the upper right, slightly downward to the left, between two islands. The chart does not indicate and I am not sure which of the islands shown is actually Dinner Key.)
The white dots, right side lower central are moored boats. They are rather orderly, like grave stones, because mooring fields are generally laid out in an orderly manner. We were anchored to the right of them, off the picture, in the anchorage area, where such orderliness does not exist. Our first anchoring attempt (not enough water) was among the white dots at the extreme lower right corner. The dark blue between these two fields of dots is the John Brennan Channel. To got to the Coral Reef YC we motored (1) to the left through that well marked channel, (2) south of the lower end of the berm that runs sort of vertically past the end of the seven docks of the Dinner Key YC, (3) turned left to pass between the ends of those docks and the island running to the upper right, and (4) hugging the ends of the smaller docks, toward the upper left where we (5)entered and tied on, facing the shore, between the two shoreward docks extending downward from the "E" shaped dock in the extreme upper left.
After bringing ILENE to the dock we went to the movies seeing Big Eyes (about an female artist who painted children with emotive big eyes and her emotionally abusive husband) and Inherent Vice (which provided a vehicle for actors to act as trashy people doing trashy things which signified nothing and was a waste of time). And we stopped at Fresh Market for take out food to eat at home, i.e., aboard.
We learned the local mass transit system and used it to visit local cultural attractions. This included the rather new, large and very elegant Perez Art Museum of Miami (PAMM).
The 249 bus took us from two blocks from the YC, about a mile, to the Coconut Grove light rail elevated system station which in turn took us to the People Mover, a free elevated loop in the central downtown area, which left us a block from the museum, of which the Miamians are quite proud, having spent $200 million on its construction in prime real estate next to the new concert hall and the new science museum under construction.
Lene hooked up with the same Rhonda who we had dined with on our first night in Miami Beach and three other women. She viewed the art and had lunch with them. I explored the art myself. It rained a lot early in the day but we had our foulies and did not get very wet. Most of the artists were not known to me and most had some Miami or south Florida connection by birth, education, work, residence or death.They had a large collection of pop art, by name brand artists: Warhol, Lichtenstein, etc. which Lene liked. This seemed old to me. These two works, one inside and one out, are based on geodesic domes.
My favorite was this painting, approximately 5 by 8 feet by my guess, by an African artist. Three zig zag lines, two starting in the upper right and one from the top toward the left define the spaces that are painted in. And the bottom represents more, little triangles that I saw as water in this landscape, though the plackard said it could be a TV static pattern. I spent quite a few minutes intrigued by this one.
Another day we visited Viscaya, the seaside mansion of John Deering of John Deere fame, another Breakers-like home of the rich. This one was built during the portion of WWI before the US went "over there" to end it. Deering was a bachelor and imported fountains and whole rooms of walls and furniture from Europe. Quite lovely actually. The big change here in the last century was the erection of a glass roof to cover and hence seal off the central courtyard onto which all rooms of all three floors open -- to keep out the salt air and rain. This, of course, also necessitated air conditioning. And the gardens are not what they once were. I love these marble floors of theseaside and land entryways:
The gardens are nothing to sneeze at either, and here is one of the fountains with "merboys" --mermaids with boys instead of girls.
A large stone Venetian barge (a place for guests to recline at ease) was built on a sandbank to protect Vizcayas sea entrance, with me at the extreme left and the towers over Government Cut barely visible on the horizon in the between. A bird walked by unconcerned with his proximity to humans.
One evening some young men strolled past our boat and started up a conversation because they recognized ILENE. Russ and Tom had sailed with my late son-in-law, Julien, and sung his praises and those of my daughter who they asked me to convey their good wishes. Small world.
We spent a pleasant afternoon lounging at the YCs underutilized swimming pool and, after some wine aboard, had a nice dinner at the Yacht Club with Jerry and Louise, who came over from Miami Beach and took us to Publix afterwards so Lene could get some products that the very nearby Fresh Foods does not stock, e.g. frozen blueberries and sugarless peanut butter. We lucked out that this was an all you can eat pasta plus night for only $17.00. I have yet to learn how to avoid over stuffing myself at such affairs, though. The eighteen percent service charge is added to the bill automatically. This club has lots of helpful friendly staff to serve its 800 members, most of who do not keep boats here. It has fixed concrete piers against which we put up the fender board. The docks are busy by day with contractors and many people in suits apparently use the club day and night as a venue to do business. The only drawback is that on sunny days numerous black birds sit in the rigging and emit the remains of their fruit based diet, staining the deck. I washed it off over and over and will use bleach on the remaining stubborn though by now faint stains.
Another evening we were visited by Janet (who had taken us to the Chihuly exhibit) and another member of Lenes grade school posse, also named Rhonda. Rhonda was in town from New York to visit her Mom. After wine and cheese and a tour of the boat, I had, among other things, a single stone crab leg, my first, a delicacy here, and not as good as other seafood to my taste. This was at the well known but not excessively expensive (except for stone crab legs) Montes, on the water, less than a quarter mile away. Photo to be added. Janet and ?Ed may drive down to Marathon to visit us there, and perhaps to fish, though access to the boat on anchor or mooring will be more difficult for Janet than dockside. Also, yesterdays news about Cuba has started us thinking about getting the charts and cruising guides we will need for such a visit, though our insurer, Pantaenius, has not yet come around on this issue. They have several weeks to do so. Life is very very good.
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After bringing ILENE to the dock we went to the movies seeing Big Eyes (about an female artist who painted children with emotive big eyes and her emotionally abusive husband) and Inherent Vice (which provided a vehicle for actors to act as trashy people doing trashy things which signified nothing and was a waste of time). And we stopped at Fresh Market for take out food to eat at home, i.e., aboard.
We learned the local mass transit system and used it to visit local cultural attractions. This included the rather new, large and very elegant Perez Art Museum of Miami (PAMM).
The 249 bus took us from two blocks from the YC, about a mile, to the Coconut Grove light rail elevated system station which in turn took us to the People Mover, a free elevated loop in the central downtown area, which left us a block from the museum, of which the Miamians are quite proud, having spent $200 million on its construction in prime real estate next to the new concert hall and the new science museum under construction.
My favorite was this painting, approximately 5 by 8 feet by my guess, by an African artist. Three zig zag lines, two starting in the upper right and one from the top toward the left define the spaces that are painted in. And the bottom represents more, little triangles that I saw as water in this landscape, though the plackard said it could be a TV static pattern. I spent quite a few minutes intrigued by this one.
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The gardens are nothing to sneeze at either, and here is one of the fountains with "merboys" --mermaids with boys instead of girls.
A large stone Venetian barge (a place for guests to recline at ease) was built on a sandbank to protect Vizcayas sea entrance, with me at the extreme left and the towers over Government Cut barely visible on the horizon in the between. A bird walked by unconcerned with his proximity to humans.
We spent a pleasant afternoon lounging at the YCs underutilized swimming pool and, after some wine aboard, had a nice dinner at the Yacht Club with Jerry and Louise, who came over from Miami Beach and took us to Publix afterwards so Lene could get some products that the very nearby Fresh Foods does not stock, e.g. frozen blueberries and sugarless peanut butter. We lucked out that this was an all you can eat pasta plus night for only $17.00. I have yet to learn how to avoid over stuffing myself at such affairs, though. The eighteen percent service charge is added to the bill automatically. This club has lots of helpful friendly staff to serve its 800 members, most of who do not keep boats here. It has fixed concrete piers against which we put up the fender board. The docks are busy by day with contractors and many people in suits apparently use the club day and night as a venue to do business. The only drawback is that on sunny days numerous black birds sit in the rigging and emit the remains of their fruit based diet, staining the deck. I washed it off over and over and will use bleach on the remaining stubborn though by now faint stains.
Another evening we were visited by Janet (who had taken us to the Chihuly exhibit) and another member of Lenes grade school posse, also named Rhonda. Rhonda was in town from New York to visit her Mom. After wine and cheese and a tour of the boat, I had, among other things, a single stone crab leg, my first, a delicacy here, and not as good as other seafood to my taste. This was at the well known but not excessively expensive (except for stone crab legs) Montes, on the water, less than a quarter mile away. Photo to be added. Janet and ?Ed may drive down to Marathon to visit us there, and perhaps to fish, though access to the boat on anchor or mooring will be more difficult for Janet than dockside. Also, yesterdays news about Cuba has started us thinking about getting the charts and cruising guides we will need for such a visit, though our insurer, Pantaenius, has not yet come around on this issue. They have several weeks to do so. Life is very very good.
HYC Cruise Day 8 August 1 Block Island RI to Stonington CT 18 6 Miles
Ohana left Block first, at about 7:30, after fueling up at Champlins dock, where he had to slither into a relatively short space between two megayachts on the fuel pier. He is heading as far west as he could get today, but later advised that he would not stop before City Island where he will arrive tomorrow. Sunset from Ohana.
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ILENE left next, at 8, after raising and securing the dink, Again, the mooring painter hardly had time to get wet before the next boater picked it up. Today was a good sailing day, we put up full sails immediately after leaving Blocks channel and sailed all the way into Stonington on a port tack. Not a white knuckle speed day, what with ILENEs dirty bottom (Barnacle Buster didnt get to us before the cruise) but speeds between four and six knots depending on the wind. We picked up a mooring from Dodsons at noon and spent a few hours aboard before going ashore to tour the land. This is my first time here that coincided with the annual "Stonington Day" festival -- a lot of craft booths on the green. Long hot showers at Dodsons.
We heard True North call the Yacht Club, where Blast is also now, on outside berths. I had mentioned how packed in the boats were at Paynes Dock in Block. Ernie provided this photo. This is way too close!
We took Dodsons free launch from shore to the YC for dinner with a stop at this "cruise ship" out of Mystic in the harbor where its guests embarked her.
Also joining the cruise and on a mooring is "No News", Ken and Camilles Nonesuch, They are active cruisers but this is No News first Harlem Cruise and they love the extra room their new boat has. They will detach tomorrow and join us again in Centerport.
Dinner for ten at a big round table at the Yacht Club [photo on PC Martys camera will be added here later] was delicious and long. We just sat around telling stories long after the foood was gone.
On the walk back to Dodsons to get the launch to our boats we showed Ken and Camille the location of the 24 hour, freshly caught fish store, with payment of the marked prices by the honor system. But it was closed, sadly an apparent victim of lack of honor.
Also joining the cruise and on a mooring is "No News", Ken and Camilles Nonesuch, They are active cruisers but this is No News first Harlem Cruise and they love the extra room their new boat has. They will detach tomorrow and join us again in Centerport.
Dinner for ten at a big round table at the Yacht Club [photo on PC Martys camera will be added here later] was delicious and long. We just sat around telling stories long after the foood was gone.
On the walk back to Dodsons to get the launch to our boats we showed Ken and Camille the location of the 24 hour, freshly caught fish store, with payment of the marked prices by the honor system. But it was closed, sadly an apparent victim of lack of honor.
Selasa, 08 Maret 2016
Boatbuilding Lark Scow Part 1
Other posts on the Lark scow.
Peter Gilbert of the Erieau Lark fleet in Canada has started a new Lark scow (named Pinky Too, his Dad built Pinky 2 and Pinky 3) using the Kerr plans. He sends along some photos. The Kerr plans follow the original C.G. Davis plans in using a lot of frames. Instead of sawn frames, Peter has laminated the arc sections. He is planking the bottom of the Lark with plywood but with a hi-tech twist; he is using 3mm plywood with a carbon fiber sheathing (I wonder how this will square with the Erieau Y.C fleet as Peters construction may possibly result in a Lark considerably lighter than the current boats.)
I like how these builders determine fairness using a full glass of beer as a sight-line.
The solid timber side planks hold everything together before the bottom and deck goes on.
Read More..
Peter Gilbert of the Erieau Lark fleet in Canada has started a new Lark scow (named Pinky Too, his Dad built Pinky 2 and Pinky 3) using the Kerr plans. He sends along some photos. The Kerr plans follow the original C.G. Davis plans in using a lot of frames. Instead of sawn frames, Peter has laminated the arc sections. He is planking the bottom of the Lark with plywood but with a hi-tech twist; he is using 3mm plywood with a carbon fiber sheathing (I wonder how this will square with the Erieau Y.C fleet as Peters construction may possibly result in a Lark considerably lighter than the current boats.)
I like how these builders determine fairness using a full glass of beer as a sight-line.
The solid timber side planks hold everything together before the bottom and deck goes on.
Rabu, 02 Maret 2016
Early Season Sailing June 20 to July 1
My first sail out on Eastchester Bay this season was on Bennetts new boat. This means that the first 11 of sailing the calendar year were all on Bennetts two boats: The first eight of these in the BVIs on On Eagles Wings, plus the two days bringing his new Beneteau back from RI and finally, the eleventh, a day sail arising from a chance meeting with Bennett and his friend, Will, in the parking lot on a day when I had planned to work aboard. OK! I admit it. I confess! Yes, I am weak to the siren call of sailing, and strapping me to the mast would not help this weakness. We sailed for about three hours and then spent a few more on the mooring investigating two possibly related problems: a rasping knocking sound when the rudder passed 15 degrees to starboard and the auto pilot steering off course rather sharply to port when activated. I under stand that both problems have already been fixed.
Two nice social events in peoples homes as well: a party to honor the naming of YC friends Mark and Marcias new grandson and a birthday party to celebrate Bennetts birthday.
Then came two five hour days -- cleaning the boats interior, putting things away, putting things back together. It all payed off: my severest critic, Admiral Ilene, said the boat looked "clean" when we finally went sailing. Dont worry, I know where the remaining dirt is hidden and will get to it soon.
Our first sail of 2014 on ILENE was four hours with Dev and her boyfriend, Vin, who we were very pleased to meet.
An intelligent gentleman. It was his first sail and with the wind Gods not having provided enough, I had the pleasure of inviting them back for a day with more wind so he can enjoy the true thrill of sailing. So we did some motoring though we did get up to 4.8 knots Speed Over Ground for a while during one brief puff. We got into Little Neck Bay before turning back. Two things are not working yet: Speed through the water measures at zero due to the speedo wheel being clogged and the Genoa cannot unfurl though I do have the Allen headed set screw needed to fix that issue. This will take place next time I am aboard with another person to haul me to the top of the mast in a bosuns chair in light wind.
Sid and his wife, Jan, their daughter, Danielle, and Danielles friend, Kara, both age 13, and our nephew, Mendy joined us the next day for five hours, mooring to mooring. Sid was a colleague of mine and continues to work in the law; Jan is a recently retired teacher. They are also gourmet cooks but this time they brought delicious store bought Italian delicacies for lunch. More wind than the day before. Almost everyone took a turn helming so Auto got a day off. We passed east through Hart Island Sound, and then deeply into Manhassett Harbor before going near the Throggs Neck Bridge and then back to the mooring. On the way back we passed near a 2006 Saga 40 which I learned is kept at the nearby Morris Yacht Club. Perhaps we can get to know the owners better but we have been away a lot in the summers of late, so that may be difficult. We had the Clubs pretty good burgers (except they have not yet mastered the "rare" button) for dinner in an elegant friendly atmosphere at a bargain rate. Except for first timer Kara, they are winners of ILENEs "frequent sailor" awards, but that does not excuse my forgetting to shoot their photos; sorry.
Next a day of shopping for the boat: a punch to knock out a pin at the forward end of the boom that will no longer be needed; weather stripping to seal water out of the propane locker; the aforesaid Allen head set screw; the services of a lumberyard to cut a small piece of cherry veneer plywood I had into three smaller pieces to fix a hole in a corner of the aft port cabinet; cherry veneer to iron onto one of the edges of each such piece; a mast base block and a rope clutch (so that when installed, and the line snaked through the tunnel, I will be able to adjust the outhaul from the cockpit instead of having to go forward and put the boat into irons to tighten the main sails foot); and a shackle to hold up the starboard dinghy davit tackle to replace the one I lost. All this for only $200!
My third sail aboard ILENE was with club members Rhoda
and Lloyd
and their grand dog Rocky, a cute young well-behaved Westie.
About 4 hours to get to the Seacliff YC mooring field in Hempstead Bay and tack back. There was enough wind, over 20 knots at the end, that a first reef of the main would have been desirable. Lloyd, who had not yet an experienced ILENE rounding up due to being overpowered, has now learned how to deal with this, gaining confidence in the process. I love teaching, which readers of this blog probably characterize as my pedantry.
Fourth of July weekend had three boatloads of friends but the first of them got washed out by the weather. Rain dates are being sought. Stay tuned.
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Two nice social events in peoples homes as well: a party to honor the naming of YC friends Mark and Marcias new grandson and a birthday party to celebrate Bennetts birthday.
Then came two five hour days -- cleaning the boats interior, putting things away, putting things back together. It all payed off: my severest critic, Admiral Ilene, said the boat looked "clean" when we finally went sailing. Dont worry, I know where the remaining dirt is hidden and will get to it soon.
Our first sail of 2014 on ILENE was four hours with Dev and her boyfriend, Vin, who we were very pleased to meet.
Sid and his wife, Jan, their daughter, Danielle, and Danielles friend, Kara, both age 13, and our nephew, Mendy joined us the next day for five hours, mooring to mooring. Sid was a colleague of mine and continues to work in the law; Jan is a recently retired teacher. They are also gourmet cooks but this time they brought delicious store bought Italian delicacies for lunch. More wind than the day before. Almost everyone took a turn helming so Auto got a day off. We passed east through Hart Island Sound, and then deeply into Manhassett Harbor before going near the Throggs Neck Bridge and then back to the mooring. On the way back we passed near a 2006 Saga 40 which I learned is kept at the nearby Morris Yacht Club. Perhaps we can get to know the owners better but we have been away a lot in the summers of late, so that may be difficult. We had the Clubs pretty good burgers (except they have not yet mastered the "rare" button) for dinner in an elegant friendly atmosphere at a bargain rate. Except for first timer Kara, they are winners of ILENEs "frequent sailor" awards, but that does not excuse my forgetting to shoot their photos; sorry.
Next a day of shopping for the boat: a punch to knock out a pin at the forward end of the boom that will no longer be needed; weather stripping to seal water out of the propane locker; the aforesaid Allen head set screw; the services of a lumberyard to cut a small piece of cherry veneer plywood I had into three smaller pieces to fix a hole in a corner of the aft port cabinet; cherry veneer to iron onto one of the edges of each such piece; a mast base block and a rope clutch (so that when installed, and the line snaked through the tunnel, I will be able to adjust the outhaul from the cockpit instead of having to go forward and put the boat into irons to tighten the main sails foot); and a shackle to hold up the starboard dinghy davit tackle to replace the one I lost. All this for only $200!
My third sail aboard ILENE was with club members Rhoda
and Lloyd
and their grand dog Rocky, a cute young well-behaved Westie.
Fourth of July weekend had three boatloads of friends but the first of them got washed out by the weather. Rain dates are being sought. Stay tuned.
Sabtu, 20 Februari 2016
December 1 3 Kingsley Plantation to Jacksonville and two Lay Days There 19 8 Miles
The passage, under motor, was uneventful. I was a bit disappointed to miss out on the tide up the St. Johns River. If we had started a bit later we would have caught more favorable tide. This large suspension bridge had a high tech industrial appearance, less graceful than others, I thought.
We passed a large cruise ship about ten miles before the city and waved to the passengers. I had not known that Jax was a cruise ship port. The trip up the river about 15 miles reminded me a bit of Norfolk with a large military presence, and huge commercial shipping. Watching the mammoth cranes at work -- sliding out and picking up or putting down shipping containers so quickly was rather amazing. They must have a computer program to tell it what to do because each trip out over the water between ship and shore involved two containers -- one off and one on.
Jacksonville was named after President Andrew Jackson who made his name by killing Native Americans in Florida, and is the largest city we have visited since leaving New York, almost two months ago.
Jacksonville Landing, on the river, at the heart of the downtown area was apparently intended as a version of the commercial activities of New Yorks South Street Seaport Museum. But it has fallen on hard times and the stores are mostly fast food restaurants. (So we ate at Hooters, a first time experience for me as was eating a corn dog for lunch the next day). But the City offers its seawall, perhaps 200 yards of floating dock -- free -- for up to three nights. And there is water so ILENE got a thorough bath, but there is no electric, showers or help getting on or off. The Landing has a bad reputation for subjecting boaters to petty crime and pan handling. An alternative is a different free municipal marina where one can also get electricity for $8.00 per night, and which is not near pan handlers. But it is 1.5 miles from the downtown area, we did not fear panhandlers and did not experience any problems.
They say you have to raft up to other boats -- up to five abreast!! -- if there are more boats than wall space. This could be quite difficult considering the current that runs in the river. But we were the only boat there when we arrived in the early afternoon, and no rafting was needed during our three nights; and we could have stayed longer had we wanted. The photo was taken after we left, and the only boat is the one just to the left of where we were tied up, below the Hooters.
We visited the Cummer Museum. Not a bad try for a smaller city like this. It was in the Cummer mansion, with additional buildings and had three lovely formal gardens out back, fronting the river, English, Italian and the third by Frederick Law Olmstead, designer of New Yorks Central Park. The city has a municipal trolley- looking bus system. Its route is listed on the tourist maps and would have taken us to the museum $.75 per person, one way. We waited for almost an hour before some kind person showed us the inconspicuous sign which had been pasted up that said that service had been discontinued as of the day before. So we took a cab, walked to the new Fresh Market nearby and got another cab back to the boat. I also visited a somewhat disorganized maritime museum located in JVille Landing, and we took the free skyway, an elevated railroad that connects different parts of the city (sort of like the systems at New Yorks airports) to an excellent and popular restaurant, B.B.s, at the end of the line on the other side or the river and walked back across the Main Street Bridge.
We were lucky to make this bridge opening on our way in. There was construction and all of the associated equipment had to be removed before they could raise the bridge, causing a delay that permitted us to avoid waiting almost an hour for the next opening.
We enjoyed visitors here: Michele and Manu, whose "TeePee" is in a marina at Green Cove Springs, another 20 miles up the St. Johns River, where they are readying her for the Bahamas. They came by car and after several hours of talking and eating we went to the monthly arts walk including a free guided tour of the Jacksonville Theater, built in 1927 and renovated in the 80s, including its backstage and dressing rooms; sort of a mini Radio City Music Hall. The central business district was done up in booths with artisans and crafts people; many live music events reverberated in the streets.
We visited the Museum of Contemporary Art to see what all the controversy was about: The day before we arrived, a painting of a nude pregnant woman on display there had been denounced as pornographic by the city manager. It was not, but his criticism ensured large crowds and pickets defending the arts. Shades of Mayor Rudy Guiliani. Then, back at the boat, Lene cooked up that sweet potato pasta as a prima vera for dinner aboard for the four of us. A good time. One Floridian described Jacksonville to me as "the armpit of Florida". We had only a few days there but his criticism seemed harsh.
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Jacksonville was named after President Andrew Jackson who made his name by killing Native Americans in Florida, and is the largest city we have visited since leaving New York, almost two months ago.
Jacksonville Landing, on the river, at the heart of the downtown area was apparently intended as a version of the commercial activities of New Yorks South Street Seaport Museum. But it has fallen on hard times and the stores are mostly fast food restaurants. (So we ate at Hooters, a first time experience for me as was eating a corn dog for lunch the next day). But the City offers its seawall, perhaps 200 yards of floating dock -- free -- for up to three nights. And there is water so ILENE got a thorough bath, but there is no electric, showers or help getting on or off. The Landing has a bad reputation for subjecting boaters to petty crime and pan handling. An alternative is a different free municipal marina where one can also get electricity for $8.00 per night, and which is not near pan handlers. But it is 1.5 miles from the downtown area, we did not fear panhandlers and did not experience any problems.
We visited the Cummer Museum. Not a bad try for a smaller city like this. It was in the Cummer mansion, with additional buildings and had three lovely formal gardens out back, fronting the river, English, Italian and the third by Frederick Law Olmstead, designer of New Yorks Central Park. The city has a municipal trolley- looking bus system. Its route is listed on the tourist maps and would have taken us to the museum $.75 per person, one way. We waited for almost an hour before some kind person showed us the inconspicuous sign which had been pasted up that said that service had been discontinued as of the day before. So we took a cab, walked to the new Fresh Market nearby and got another cab back to the boat. I also visited a somewhat disorganized maritime museum located in JVille Landing, and we took the free skyway, an elevated railroad that connects different parts of the city (sort of like the systems at New Yorks airports) to an excellent and popular restaurant, B.B.s, at the end of the line on the other side or the river and walked back across the Main Street Bridge.
We enjoyed visitors here: Michele and Manu, whose "TeePee" is in a marina at Green Cove Springs, another 20 miles up the St. Johns River, where they are readying her for the Bahamas. They came by car and after several hours of talking and eating we went to the monthly arts walk including a free guided tour of the Jacksonville Theater, built in 1927 and renovated in the 80s, including its backstage and dressing rooms; sort of a mini Radio City Music Hall. The central business district was done up in booths with artisans and crafts people; many live music events reverberated in the streets.
We visited the Museum of Contemporary Art to see what all the controversy was about: The day before we arrived, a painting of a nude pregnant woman on display there had been denounced as pornographic by the city manager. It was not, but his criticism ensured large crowds and pickets defending the arts. Shades of Mayor Rudy Guiliani. Then, back at the boat, Lene cooked up that sweet potato pasta as a prima vera for dinner aboard for the four of us. A good time. One Floridian described Jacksonville to me as "the armpit of Florida". We had only a few days there but his criticism seemed harsh.
