Marriage Madness in Miami

We did it! My lovely auntie Marianne took us to "Chef Allen" for an outrageous rehearsal dinner replete with bottles of Mumm's, exciting and unusual cuisine, and personalized menus. That's the first picture of us looking reasonably refined. Then, then next afternoon on the 27th, we drove to the Biscayne Boulevard Courthouse in north Miami and waited...on line...for about 20 minutes. We sat down at a little window, and the gentleman helping us was about the only thing that resembled our original plan - a rasta with waist-length dreads. He took the license we had obtained in Fernandina Beach, disappeared for a while, and came back and asked for $30. We wondered, is that it? Are we married now? All my family was in tow, and were equally dismayed to think that was the whole thing. But no! He laughed at us and said, "come with me to the marriage room". It was a cute litte room decorated with silk flowers to look like a little wedding place. They even had a fake flower bouquet for the bride to hold. He told us to look at eachother and take eachother's hands. Then he said the usual words. He was impressed that we had remembered to bring rings for eachother. It was very cute and sweet, and culminated in the joyful statement; "You may kiss the bride!" I threw the bouquet, my daughter Cate caught it, and the deal was done. More later, but we are now struggling to get on track to cross the gulf stream. In any case, HAPPY NEW YEAR from Wayne and Isabel Francis. May love, peace, and health fill the new year for all.

Merry Christmas from Paradise!

Claude came to the Sailing Club this morning to continue preparations for the "crossing", and we thought we'd send a Christmas card to all of our blog readers the only way we know how...so...MERRY CHRISTMAS! We are preparing supplies, charts, cramming the boat full of as many canned goods, paper goods, and extra filters, etc. as we can. It is a monumental task but hey - if we run out, we'll just figure it out I'm sure. How bad can it be to be in the Bahamas?

We have enjoyed Coconut Grove even more these last few days - we found the clean and well-maintained public tennis courts, and Wayne has been trouncing me the past 2 days. It is embarrasing, as inevitably next to us are young people in the developmental mode of Venus and Serena, who smash the heck out of the ball. Still, it's fun to jog in the park, play tennis, stroll around the streets and enjoy the hospitality of the bar at the sailing club. We can only wish those of you in the north great skiing and snowboarding and happy trails for Cross-Country.

Claude's family is already here and mine arrives tomorrow so there is nothing more we could ask for this Christmas.

Bisous a tous - hugs for all -

Isabel, Wayne and Claude

Life on the Bay

Life on Biscayne Bay is great. The first photo is the Sailing Club taken from the street side. The second are a couple of kids learning to sail at the Club. It's just such a great place. Regrettably, it is being threatened as a developer wants to tear it down and build a Cuban Restaurant. Sheesh. Of course I emailed the entire City Commission of Miami with a protest, but I doubt it will do any good. You never know though - I got an update regarding the North Carolina and Georgia stretches of the ICW. Those are the ones we had such trouble with as they have not been dredged for 2 years. Apparently funding was added in the last Federal spending bill, and the ICW should once again be possible for all boats with a 6-foot draw or less. People power!

We strolled to a great outdoor bar/restaurant last night called "Scotty's Landing". We had dolphin fish sandwiches and listened to a couple of guys playing live reggae. Inexpensive and great fun. Luckily, this establishment was running on Carribean Time when the bands play from 6 until 10pm and you can get to bed early. Our morning runs have become less horrible (we appear to be getting in shape again) and the parks are so beautiful. We also checked out the shops at the CocoWalk and happy hour at the Cafe TuTuTango. It's like a total vacation. Well almost - we also scrubbed the entire boat yesterday and took her for a pump out, but that's not really like work.

We are honestly thinking of everyone in the Great White North, but cannot say we'd like to be there with you. It is too incredible here, and a vacation from the vacation was certainly in order. The library will most likely be closed for the next few days, so if we don't get another chance to say it:

Peace, love, joy, and health to all of you in this holiday season and into the next year! Be well, be happy, you are in our thoughts.

put the lime in the coconut...

OK, no -we have not had a chance to put the lime in the coconut yet. We are still loving it here! The days are warm and gentle, the nights cool and lovely. We had a chance to spend some time at the Clubhouse again last night, enjoying the company of Bill and several other members. The bartender, Lisa, is a talented flute player that - like many musicians - tends bar. She is a scrappy little thing who does not fear Mr. Bill Beavers either. Must have learned it from Debra Pepper. Our gorgeous friend Karen Stene is actually a former model (we should have known) and at an indeterminate age looks fantastic! Her husband Wayne Tepper is an optometrist with a great belly-laugh and a huge capacity for love and generosity. They have gone up north for Christmas (family) but we hope to see them when they return. Last night we met a couple of identical twins - Jim and John Adams. As with Wayne's sisters, they are both great-looking but it is not hard to tell them apart after a few minutes of conversation. They tend to cause quite a stir among the ladies at the club, being elegant and slim 50-ish gents, and confuse the heck out of the guys who have had a few more than usual. We also met a professional environmental activist-type guy from Illinois(?) named Sam. He seems to mostly just kayak around while here in Miami. He is here visiting a buddy named David (also from Illinois) who does sailboat charters. David looks like he needs to get out of the fast lane and spend some time on a kayak but maybe he was just tired that night. Stuff is just going on all the time here - live music, fab food, nightlife, etc. Too bad our bodies have not yet been able to make the adjustment to staying awake much past 9pm. We'll practice up for the next few days in anticipation of the arrival of the kids who will for SURE want to sample the Miami nightlife. The big day? The 27th. Nobody has backed out yet...We'll keep you posted.

Coconut Grove: that's a royer

See the big smiles on the faces in the first picture. That's us (still on the boat) as we sail into the entrance channel for the Coconut Grove Sailing Club. The next picture is a little boutique in the hip/funky/slick Coconut Grove shopping district. The last picture was provided by Doug - what he saw on arrival back in Canada. I am sure the UP looks very similar. You don't have to guess why we are smiling.

Our last day sans Doug was a challenge for Claude, as he not only had to do all the driving but all the talking to the bridge tenders as well. We knew we were in Miami about half-way through, when one of the bridge operators - in replying to my identification of our boat - said, "that's a royer". That's a royer...hmmm...oh yeah - "That's a Roger" in spanglish. Between Claude's delightful French accent and the bridge tender's pronounced Spanish accent, we could only imagine what fun they had communicating! At any rate, the nice bridge tender told us to stay about 200 yards away from the bridge due to strong current. He was right, and when we were able to go through about 15 minutes later, we were suddenly swept up into a nice rush of current which carried us swiftly - about 6 1/2 knots - to any number of the remaining bridges. We anchored outside the Miami Yacht Club at first- just near the Government Cut - but re-anchored elsewhere later so that we could dinghy to a grocery store. It was blowing quite a bit, the current swift, and the wind was due to switch in the middle of the night. Claude put out a second anchor - so did we. The next morning, Wayne tried to lift the second anchor. No luck. It was stuck. Or the line was stuck. Something was stuck. Claude and Wayne took the dinghy to explore. No luck. We had to cast off our primary anchor and tie it to a fender so the line would float. Claude climbed aboard, and used Cassie's big diesel to try to unstick the anchor. He got us moving, but both guys realized the anchor was not stuck - the line was wrapped around something mighty heavy! Claude went back to Merope to tie the boats together just as Wayne dove to check out the situation. Wayne was so excited to be able to free the anchor line that he unwrapped it and surfaced - just as Claude was trying to throw me the line from Merope. Now it's better but Cassie is basically just floating free. Wayne says, "start the engine!", Claude jumps in the dinghy, speeds over to Cassie carefully avoiding Wayne who is still in the water, leaps onboard and takes the tiller. Boy I never saw Claude move so quick! We take Cassie back to the first anchor, pick up the line, and secure her. Then the guys pick up the second anchor, bring it on board, and life is back to manageable. Wayne gets on Merope to muscle Claude's auxilliary anchor onboard ( both of them hoping it's not wrapped around another monolith) and success! Wayne's back on Cassie, Claude's anchor winch works perfectly and we are off for the 6 or 7 mile trip to Coconut Grove. It rains along the way but WHO CARES? We get there just as the sun is peeking through and are greeted by Claude's utterly charming brother-in-law, Bill. Bill is recovering from a knee replacement, and is still in painful rehab. He discovered he was allergic to Codeine (always a bad thing to discover in the hospital) but thank goodness is still able to drink beer. So, we all sat down to a real Coconut Grove Sailing Club welcome over many, many beers. We met so many fascinating people I cannot do them all justice in this long entry, so I'll start with Bill. He is a mighty sailor, having sailed his boat Finesse (Tartan 30 I think) in myriad races from Miami to Bimini and many, many others. He speaks with a prounounced West Virginia accent and an extraordinary command of English vocabulary. He speaks like a gentleman, and is very fun to listen to. He has the usual assorted salty stories to tell, but more than that he offers genteel opinions in silver tones reminiscent of the State of Virginia Attorney General of our Solomon's Island blog. I am mesmerised listening to him speak, it's just so fun, and the beers are starting to take hold. His nemesis is a fiery little Canadian lady aptly named Pepper. She has sailed with him many years and is a mighty sailor herself. She has piercing blue eyes and a mane of blond hair, some short shorts and a great laugh. Pepper and Bill get into it about any number of things, and the action heats up. Other Club members come to join us, and join in the fun! Among them were the incredibly gorgeous Karen Stene and her cuddly teddy-bear husband Dr. Wayne Tepper (more on them later). Canadians are not in short supply at the CGSC, and the discussion heats up nicely. The afternoon simmers down, and we trundle off to Cassiopeia, nicely moored a stone's throw away from the dinghy dock. What a great arrival.

Vero to Coconut Grove: part I

The best news in Vero Beach (other than the arrival of Celeste) was the arrival of Claude's "muffler". Here is his, proudly holding up the one he cobbled together in Oriental, NC. Yes, the darn thing worked since then! Claude got the actual correct part, installed it, and we were off for 5 big days. Here is Doug in Vero as well, just before leaving. He should have stayed with us, as he went home to a blizzard in Canda, but that's another story. The third picture is Merope in the rainy weather we were encountering on the way. Miami looms in the background, and we are getting there!

From Vero Beach we put in a 40-plus mile day to stop in Hobe Sound. This was one of those anchorages where you just pull off a bit to the West, throw out the anchor, and stop for the night. We had a long discussion about going "outside" to avoid the 38 bridges or so between Hobe Sound and Miami. The bottom line was we did not have the stuff. Claude had nice charts (paper) and of course complete charts on the computer, and also had a great GPS unit. We still cannot use our GPS as the sole source of navigation, and do not have a complete set of charts. I thought that perhaps we could make the overnight run outside if we borrowed Claude's charts, but then he rightly refused because then HE would not have any backup way to navigate. Add to that the huge container ships and cruise ships we would be likely to encounter in the dark, and a less than perfect weather window, and we decided to stay inside and brave the bridges.

The next day we went all the way to Lantana, where a bridge was our undoing. Waiting for the Lantana Bridge, Wayne shifted into neutral. When he tried to shift back into forward, the cable snapped and we were adrift. I steered over to the side, he threw out the anchor and we let the bridge tender know we would have to wait for the next opening, a half-hour later, due to technical problems. Wayne figured correctly that he could shift into forward manually, so we managed to get through the bridge 30 minutes later and pull into the anchorage. Whew! About an hour and several phone calls later, we miraculously found a place in the Lauderdale area which had the appropriate cable and a salesman who was so nice, he said he would drive it to us after work. This is a plug for Boat Owner's Warehouse and a guy named Jeff who was an outstanding guy. We said we would meet him at the "Old Key Lime House" restaurant, luckily a famous restaurant in the Lantana area. He got there around 7pm and would not let us buy him a beer but we gave him $10 and he graciously accepted. The next morning, Claude and Wayne installed the new cable and we were off again by 9am. Oh, did I mention that Doug, that GREAT GUY, picked up dinner for us all at the Old Key Lime House in celebration/mourning of his impending departure? What a guy!

We really needed that cable, as from Lantana to Fort Lauderdale there were about 15 bridges to go through. We miraculously timed them quite well, but it required Merope to run full-blast quite a bit. We anchored up a little river in the Lauderdale area, and were surrounded by Claude and Doug's compatriots. Truth, we were the ONLY American boat at the anchorage! A discussion of the cultural aspects of the prevalence of Canadians making the trip down the ICW bears examination, however that will have to wait for a moment. It is interesting, however, to note that young French Canadians with kids and dogs and the whole shooting match somehow manage to acquire great sailboats and make the journey. The Canadians are doing something right!

We left Doug on a street corner in Fort Lauderdale and went on our way to Miami. He cried and said he did not know how he was going to survive being separated from Claude again. (OK, I made that part up but it sounds like a great movie scene). Doug did send us a great shot of a 5-foot snowbank right outside his house upon returning to Canada. It's great to be in Florida. Here ends part one, with Merope and Cassiopeia about to arrive in the magical destination - Miami. More on that tomorrow.

Heavenly Celeste

I thought I would take this opportunity to post a picture of Celeste! She has been a sweet and bubbly addition to our gang of boat mongrels, always excited and upbeat. Her enthusiasm for the beach was not diminished at all by the red tide, and her parents will have a devil of a time trying to avoid it. She and I played cards at anchor in the swamps of Georgia and discussed things that are of great importance to 9-year olds. This is far less taxing than editing college-level political science papers. It is always uplifting to see her cute little smile and touseled hair. She is like the Energizer Bunny - in constant motion and near-constant sound. Although captivating, I am now enjoying the benefits of being able to say, "I'm sorry I have to go, sweetie" and hand her back over to her folks. They really have to be slightly crazy to live on a sailboat with a small child. Dogs, children, and the like are too challenging on boats for my taste.

Boyz in the Hood

Here are the "boys" peering out of the cockpit of Claude's boat, Merope. We had such fun last night at a local bar/restaurant called "The Riverfront Cafe". We took Doug out in the afternoon (via dinghy) to watch the Packers and the Lions play, and then returned a bit later in the evening to watch the Patriots/Steelers game. After the game, a band consisting of two guys, started to play. The guitar player resembled local rock legend and sprinkler king Tim Preston. The other guy was a large gentleman wearing bib overalls and a rasta beret, playing a washtub string bass. For real. He had a metal washtub on the floor, to which a single "string" or metal cable, was attached at one end. The other end was attached to what looked like a cut-off broom handle. The sound it made was unbelievably fun and amazingly in tune or on key. I could not help but dance, and Wayne and I had a great time doing our crazy jitterbug/swing/free form dance styling. Not ready for "Dancing with the Stars" but a good time. Everyone was having such fun! I even got Doug to take a turn on the floor with me. We hope this will not aggravate his back, but at the time he thought it was well worth it. Just as we were about to call it a night, Sue and Brian from Sogno appeared. We had originally spied them in the swamps of Georgia - Kilkenny to be exact. We hooked up in Fernandina at the Palace one night, and were pleased to see them again here in Vero Beach. It was Brian's birthday, which gave us a good reason to stay for a little while. More fun, more boat discussions, but no more beer as we are learning to pace ourselves. As a result, this morning was not nearly as painful as usual after a fun night out.

The best news yesterday was the sighting of our friends aboard Grayling. They're here! They had actually gone a bit further than Fernandina Beach (not the original plan) and then spent 5 days in Titusville trying to catch the space shuttle launch. It never went, but neither did they. Little Celeste popped right up into the cockpit to greet us, and a happy reunion took place. She is excited to be somewhere she can walk to the beach. We warned her about the red tide, giving me an opportunity to "google" it and a learning occasion for all. Hopefully the red tide will have abated today. The foot gave me no trouble dancing last night, so Wayne and I are about to test drive it on a gentle jog. My sanity may be restored yet.

Claude is waiting for the arrival of parts today, and we intend to take off tomorrow. In a couple or three days we expect to be in Lantana Beach, and in Miami within the week. It will be good to STOP for a little while. We are enjoying making new friends, reuniting with others we have seen along the way, and discovering new towns and anchorages. Vero Beach has been particularly user-friendly, but our ultimate destination is still some distance away.

The internet surely keeps us connected in ways one would never dream of ten years ago. This has it's good and less than perfect aspects. We loving hearing from people at home and knowing about friends and family. Last night, however, I committed myself to an action I thought i was done with - the editing of college papers. My daughter Catherine is slogging through finals at the University of Michigan. Dumb me, I reminded her that I had a degree in political science and I think I even offered to help edit her final paper. It took about 2 hours this morning to read, edit, and re-send this paper back to her. I have encouraged her to take science instead ( anatomy, physiology, biology, chemistry). This is a good possibility as she is considering declaring as a pre-med major. Hopefully that will launch her into a wonderful career field and eliminate the need for editing of papers!

Boat life is a great metaphor for humankind. Boaters are committed to a lifestyle which encourages, and almost requires maximum cooperation. If you are having a problem of any kind, there is always someone around who offers to help in any way. Yesterday the free bus service was not running, and Wayne needed to go to the Napa store to get oil and filters for the maintenance he is doing today. A nice guy that was just hanging around at the dock said, "I'll run you there". This nice young man lives in Vero and slips his sailboat at the municipal marina. He was just out for a little Sunday on the boat, when he offered to take the time out to give Wayne a ride to the store. Claude is forever helping us with our mechanical issues, while we are always happy to run to the grocery store for him. People from all over the US and Canada meet and make friends. This morning, little Celeste met another little girl who speaks nothing but French. What a great way for the two of them to learn about eachother's language and culture. The basic culture of a live-aboard child is the same no matter where they come from. From frustration with home-schooling to the boredom of being boat-bound kids are endlessly creating things to do. Similarly, those of us who have succumbed to the temptation that this kind of voyage offers have the opportunity to endlessly re-create ourselves based upon the locale and the collection of boaters present. That said, the basic tenets never change: we all have to respond to the challenges of weather and wind - and it is in our best collective interest to look out for eachother. If only we could apply this model worldwide, we might be able to solve some of our most basic problems.

The hidden (almost) terrors of Florida...

Don't let this idyllic sunset in Dragon Bay fool you: Florida has it's own ways of tormenting humans. Lest one think this is a complaint let me preface this entry with the statement that the abnormally beautiful weather here makes up for everything else. BUT, there are two pests that presently are affecting all of us. The first is the dreaded no-see-um. These little critters are worse than mosquitos! They are practically invisible, no larger than the point of a fine-lead mechanical pencil. They are able to fly through our netting that would catch larger insects, and come in at night to feed. They bite. It is a little tiny bite, but a bite no less. It itches and wakes one up from what would otherwise be a blissful sleep. We have taken to spraying the nets with anti-bug stuff, but these guys are persistent. The other phenomenon is the "red tide". This is an algae which floats in at times and causes humans to cough and eyes to itch. Regrettably, just when Wayne's sister Jean came yesterday to enjoy a walk on the beach, the beach was not friendly. As soon as we jumped out of the car to see the beautiful Atlantic, Jean's husband Vic and I started to cough. Strange. We walked into the restaurant where they were kind enough to treat us to lunch, still coughing. The hostess explained the red tide had come in that day, and EVERYONE was coughing. Our plans to dine on the balcony overlooking the sea were dashed as the restaurant had closed up the balcony due to the irritants in the air. We had a lovely lunch, and bold Jean and Wayne decided to take a brief walk on the beach anyway. No picture could do justice to the sight of this brother and sister walking gently along the beach, surf pounding, conversing quietly. In sum, although the forces of nature conspire to remind us that life is not perfect, it is in fact not bad.

Vero Beach update

We continued to make good progress at 30+ miles a day until we arrived at Vero Beach yesterday. The weather is so lovely, it is practically unbelievable. I asked the gentleman at the dock whether it was a particularly nice day for November on arrival. He said no, this is pretty normal. Wow! It's between 70 and 80 degrees, with a gentle breeze and a few feathery clouds drifting by. Wayne's sister Jean is driving from Orlando to meet us here today, and Claude has already met up with friends of his who did the journey with him 10 years ago. There is no free wifi and the library is far away, so I bit the bullet and signed up for 24 hours access for 8 bucks. Sometimes you just have to do it. We hope to spend today and tomorrow here in Vero Beach prior to moving on again. The 30 to 35 mile days are not horrible, but a little fun now and then really breaks up the "work".

Delightful Doug!

We have been going like gangbusters since the arrival of Claude's sailing buddy, Doug. We have made it to a little town of some sort called Satellite Beach, half way between Titusville and Vero Beach. We are taking advantage of favorable winds and currents when we can, and so pushed on from Titusville even though there was a space launch scheduled for today. With the goal of Miami firmly in mind, however, it is imperative that we go when the going is good. Doug is the perfect foil to Claude's convivial French flair. He is wonderfully dignified and slightly reserved. Of course if you come from Canada, he speaks like everyone else...however if you come from our neck of the woods his charming Canadien accent appears just when you would expect it...as in "out" and "about", etc. Like "Fargo". It's too cool. We have enjoyed getting to know him and Claude has certainly enjoyed having a helping hand. We are making good progress, and the warmth and sunshine keeps us going with much more enthusiam than the cold swamps of Georgia. The waters are much easier to navigate here as well. While we had to travel a dozen miles sideways just to make six in Georgia, we basically get up every morning and point the boat south. Then we go south for about 30 or 40 miles, and stop. In sum, every mile is STRAIGHT SOUTH!!! This is the first time we can go directly south in a straight line since Norfolk. This aspect, along with the gradually warmer weather, provides encouragement to all. There is only one worrisome spot: we have lost track of some friends. I mentioned the boat Grayling before, with it's Captain Chris, First Mate Nichole and their charming daughter Celeste. They were kind enough to give us something to eat during our worst time, and we were on the same track for Fernandina Beach. The last we saw of them was at the Jekyll Island marina, then they "poofed". They were having some boat troubles, but it would seem logical (since they left just before us from Jekyll Island) that we would have seen them along the way somewhere. I hope that we will run into them soon and be able to report they are well. Any number of things can happen to boats and boaters, and we have learned to look out for eachother.

One of the most uplifting things about this part of the voyage are the dolphins! Our first sighting, as you may recall, was in Mobjack Bay all the way up in the Chesapeake. Now we see them daily. Today as we were sailing under one large bridge, a trio of dolphins appeared off our bow. They swam right up to us, then performed several daring gymnastics in unison just like a group of sychronized swimmers. It was absolutely thrilling! At our little anchorage here at "Dragon Point" we were also greeted with a number of these lovely sea animals. For those wretches like myself that have been taken in by the Illuminatus trilogy, it makes one think of Hagbard Celine and his dolphin allies. They are incredibly smart, playful and fun to watch. Wish we could just talk to them...

Swamps of Georgia to St. Augustine

I thought I would share a picture of the Kilkenny marina with everyone, which is the top one. Beautiful live oaks dripping with Spanish moss, but not much else there. The next shot is one Wayne took in Fernandina beach of the persistent pelicans at the waterfront. Last shot is a narrow street scene in St. Augustine, the "oldest continually occupied european settlement in North America". Founded by Senor Pedro Menendez de Avila in 1565, this beautiful waterfront town has become a real tourist mecca. Charming anyway. We arrived to a crowded anchorage, and were guided into our current spot by a St. Augustine live-aboard named Rudolph. He is actually from Belize and had been stranded on his boat for two weeks due to lack of a dinghy. Whatever. We brought him over some food and a couple beers last night, and gave him a ride into town this morning. In exchange, this nice man who happens to be a diver is going to install a zinc anode on the prop shaft for us to prevent the shaft and propeller from corroding in the salt water. Thank goodness Claude told us about this! Great Lakes sailing requires no such device. The powerful negative electrical charge produced by the sodium cations in the water discharges into the metal of the shaft, unless a zinc anode is present to absorb the charge. Chemistry/physics lesson for the day. Lesson to the world: positive karma flows from all good actions. We had not idea about this anode business until this morning. When we mentioned it to Rudolph, he offered to get on his dive gear and install this for us at no charge. Boating is an undertaking that is full of opportunities to generate positive karma. As the Christmas season is upon us, we feel the true meaning of the season is most meaningfully illustrated by this kind of energy flow. As my son would say, "namaste".