Vancouver Island

We traveled to Vancouver Island, British Columbia for Christmas. Yes it was a very long trip, and yes, it is much colder in the Pacific Northwest than in Southern Florida but Christmas is a time to visit family. Overall our travel went very smoothly. We left early in the morning and arrived at our destination late at night. We stayed with a relative, got a great first nights sleep and awoke to this incredible view of Departure Bay.





I made sure to bring my sunglasses but really only used them one day. It was quite grey, cloudy and drizzly the whole week. But the beauty of the area was outstanding. We kept discussing how we could get Freedom up there because the waterways look so inviting. A summer cruise up to Alaska would be fantastic. Winter in damp, grey, cold Seattle might be more than we could handle. This is the view from the home we were staying at on the one sunny day.


The mountains of mainland British Columbia in the distance




Besides all of the Christmas fun we had with Eds family, we also took some sightseeing trips. I really enjoyed our walk through Cathedral Grove. The grove is an ancient forest with Douglas Fir and Red Cedars. The biggest trees in the Grove are about 800 years old and measure as much as 75 m (250 ft) in height and 9 m (29 ft) in circumference.


Many shades of green


Gnarly


Lots of big ferns too


Our family in one of the big trees




We stopped for lunch at a cute little town known for goats on the roofs. Not many goats the day we stopped (too cold) but I did manage to snap this picture of one brave, or maybe hungry goat.




See the goat? The white guy on th right, on the roof.


Goats are the theme here.




The BC Ferries are are great way to get to the island. We really enjoyed getting out on the water!



The 'sun deck' of the ferry.



Departure Bay from the ferry.


You can also access the island by seaplane. Here they are docked in downtown Nanaimo, at the marina.


Seaplanes


Marina in downtown Nanaimo


We had a great time and hope to make it back some day. Now we have lots of work to do on Freedom. We'll do it while we are here in sunny South Florida!

Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Ferries

Here is a recap of our epic travel adventure to Vancouver Island, British Columbia!

The first leg of our adventure was a car service to the Palm Beach International airport.  Our driver was delayed by a train!  It seems our marina is on the wrong side of the tracks. No worries, we allowed plenty of extra time and it was a ridiculously early hour of  the morning so there was not a lot of road traffic.  We got to the airport in plenty of time.   We  checked our bags curbside.   I was selected for a TSA pre-check..a new program allowing randomly selected people to walk right through security without removing shoes and coats.   Ed got the normal scrutiny...as it should be.

Our first flight to Atlanta was uneventful, I'm sure the multiple Bailey's and coffee helped.  We arrived safely in Atlanta, but trains keep trying to derail us. The underground train between terminals in Atlanta had a jammed door. Back and forth we went. Lots of nice tunnels in Atlanta. Some guy with a walkie talkie at each stop pretending to be doing something. Good thing we had a 2 hour layover.  At one stop we could see Santa and his elves.  Could it have been a special Santa Security Zone?  We may never know.  The doors finally were opened manually and we walked to the correct gate.

No more delays, we boarded our flight to Seattle around noon Eastern time and prepared for take off, 5 hours to Seattle.

 No more train problems, for now. Our flight was fine.  Indeed, it was a great ride over a snowy landscape.   We arrived in Seattle grabbed our bags and shuttled to our rental car.  Things are moving smoothly but they have this thing in Seattle called Rush Hour where everybody gets on the road at the same time and drives real slow. Whats up with that?

We decide to pull off the road, get a bite to eat and grab some wine to take to Canada with us.  Back on the road and head to the border.   Oh joy! 85 minute wait at the border. Hope we can make the last ferry of the night!

Sometime during the 85 minute wait at the border we both hit the wall.  Wow, we are tired and we still have a half hour trip to the ferry dock, a 2 hour ferry trip, and a half hour to our lodging...yikes.  The authorities did indeed let us enter the country and we arrived at the terminal in time for the 10:45 final ferry crossing (that would be 1:45 Eastern time).

The BC Ferries are great, well run and on time.  We made it!  22 hours from leaving our marina.  24 hours from wake-up till sleepy time! 

Hitting the Pause Button

We've parked the boat in a marina for 3 months to catch up on projects.



The main salon windows need replacing, some canvas work awaits, there's always varnish, I want to repaint the cockpit plus many other small things that we want to get done.



Here's some of our 'neighbors'. Must be 50 in the school.

When we're done here we will haul out to repaint the bottom and a few more projects that can only be done out of the water. Hopefully we're all caught up (yea right) by spring in time to head north.

Merry Christmas

We will be traveling to British Columbia to visit family for the holidays, by airport shuttle, plane, rental automobile and ferry.    Stay tuned for our post about our trip.  We hope it will not turn into a remake of the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles!   To our readers, friends and family, we wish you the merriest Christmas and happy New Year!

Vero Beach

Vero Beach, Florida is a nice stop along the Intracoastal Waterway. In fact, it is nicknamed "velcro beach" because cruisers come to the marina here for a short visit and end up staying a long time. Why? Maybe because Vero has an inexpensive mooring field that is well protected from the winds and waves. They have a weekly cruisers happy hour, a great meet and great. But, for us, it's the free shuttle bus to town for shopping and supplies or to the beach! In fact, it is the first thing we did when we got here. We jumped on the shuttle to ........




The beach







We couldn't wait to kick off our shoes and walk along the beach.





I love watching the seagulls glide in the strong winds









Small birds are running from the surf as they hunt for food





This is the Driftwood lodge. A lodge and restaurant found along the beach here in Vero. An eccentric built the original lodge from driftwood. It has been added on to through the years and is a feast for the eyes.






Now thats a table and bench.





You could spend hours reading.





They have incredible sculptures and antiques here too.







Gotta love the beach.













We met a lot of great new people here. Had lots of fun with some old friends too. We had dinner with Stew and Diana from Casual Class. These pelicans were looking for a hand out at one of the restaurants we went to with them.






Stew and Diana gave us the hand made "star" for the top of my Christmas tree. I decorated it with sea shells found while walking the beaches of the Bahamas. Thanks guys, it is perfect!

It's beginning to look.........

.........a lot like Christmas! All the small towns here in Florida seem to have holiday festivals.







Titusville even had snow!






Look at it piling up on the palm tree.






In Cocoa, the kids got to experience tubing down a snowy hill.






Frosty the snowman made an appearance.







Christmas trees light up the night.






Of course, the sunset here in Melbourne Florida is the best light show!

A Day on the ICW

We spend many days traveling the Intracoastal Waterway. This is an inside passage that allows protection from the big winds and waves of the North Atlantic ocean. It can be challenging with heavy currents, big tidal swings, lots of boat traffic and bridges.

Here are some pics of our trip from Daytona to Titusville.



We got an early start before dawn but with enough light in the sky to navigate. We were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise.

There are "high bridges" that are fixed. Most are supposed to be at least 65' vertical clearance at high tide. This is good as Freedom needs about 63' (more is preferable).

Here is a picture of a gage on the bridge to help determine clearance. Heights vary with
tide and winds. High winds can drive water to higher levels giving less clearance. This one showed about 64'. 

This is a Bascule Bridge. It is much too low for us to get under. We call the bridge tender on the VHF radio and request an opening. Some will open on demand. Others have a schedule. This one opens every 20 minutes when requested.

Timing for the bridges is crucial. If you arrive too early you have to jockey around waiting. This can be difficult with current pushing you towards the bridge, especially if there are multiple boats waiting with you.

It was an easy day of travel. We arrived in Titusville in time to visit with our friends from Old Rosie, Ben and Jane.

Thanksgiving

Road Trip!

We got the call. Time for a road trip.


Freedom is tied up safe and sound in North Carolina where the cotton is ready for harvest.


Autumn is the perfect time to hit the road.




Love driving through the mountainous areas of North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.


Brrrrrrr.......it is cold in Michigan. Good thing we have warm family and friends to visit.



The reason for the trip? Ed had a big studio shoot.

"She"

"A ship is always referred to as "she" because it costs so much to keep her in paint and powder".
 
ADM. Chester Nimitz

New Bern

After picking up our rental car from Enterprise for our drive to Detroit, we ventured into New Bern for a look around and dinner.
They seem to have a thing for bears here.






It's a very nice little town.








And to top it off, it's the birthplace of Pepsi.



Dinner was very good. We'll have to come back and spend more time here someday. Meantime we've temporarily become dirt dwellers and car drivers.

Nice Work!

We replaced an old Taylormade fender under their lifetime warranty. Thank you Taylormade.
A new fender deserves a new fender cover. Chris did a fantastic job fabricating the new cover. Here it is next to an older one. Sharp!

Moving South

It is starting to get chilly, especially at night. It is time to move south.

After you pass through Norfolk, Virginia there is a section with lift bridges. These bridges have restricted openings during the week. The weekends are less restrictive and if you are folowing a tow and barge you can sail through on their bridge opening (they arrange opening reservations). Here is the one we were lucky enough to follow through.





Monday was our day to travel the Albemarle Sound, the Alligator River, and the Alligator Pungo Canal. What a great day with beautiful sights.


Here is Ed using our new traveler controls as we sailed the Albemarle Sound.




The Alligator River is shown below.....not a single gator was seen.










The Alligator Pungo Canal reminds us of our river travels.