Where did April go? Ft Pierce to Charleston

After our crossing back from the Bahamas, our destination is Fort Pierce and the newly renovated city marina.  Since we have planned ahead and filed a float plan with customs and immigration, we clear back into the US with a simple phone call.  The music continues as we arrive just in time for the week long Jazz Festival on the waterfront near our marina.  There is music every afternoon and evening, from jazz to blues to rock, all very good.

 

So glad we happen to be around for the Ft Pierce Oyster Festival too.  The events just keep going.

The shucking table

Baked, on the half shell or oyster shooters!

Yummy!

We attended the MTOA Southern Rendezvous while in Ft. Pierce.  The theme was Dr. Seuss and this is our costume for the theme party.  We were one of many 'Things' in attendance, all very fun.

As part of the rendezvous we went to the Navy Seals Museaum in Ft. Pierce.

Actual Maersk Alabama lifeboat
 used in the movie Capt. Phillips

Someone needs a shave

We also had time to visit our boating friends for a few days who now have homes at 'The Villages' located north of Orlando.

Scott liked this sign in a Villages square

Here we are with Phil, Alice, Jean & Steve

On the way north, we stopped in St Simon to enjoy more BBQ at Southern Soul.  We headed out on our bikes, first to get air for the tires and then to dinner.  We found a great bike shop called Monkeywrench with free air.  Of course while waiting we browsed and purchased a new bell and horn (something we should have had all along).  Off we went and within 10 minutes one of our front tires when flat, so back to Monkeywrench for repair.  

Settling up our tab at Monkeywrench (bike in foreground)

Brisket  and Ribs at SS BBQ - fantastic!

The outdoor 'kitchen' at SS BBQ

On to Charleston where we walked, and we walked, and occasionally rode the trolley.  We had a fabulous dinner at Jestine's Kitchen on Meeting St with good home cooking (fried chicken).  We also took in comedy at Theater 99 and wrapped up our stay with a concert  by Patrick Davis & The Midnight Choir at The Circular Church.  We were introduced to PD in the Bahamas at the February Songwriter's in Paradise shows.

Sweet scent of Jasmine everywhere

Beautiful window boxes

Patrick Davis & The Midnight Choir at The Circular Church

Bahamas to FL

3/25/16

To make a long story short, we left the protection of our boat slip at Green Turtle Cay and anchored to the northwest side of Mangrove Cay (nothing there but mangroves) since the winds were expected from the southeast.  Shortly after we arrived, storm cells off the coast of FL headed our way with heavy rain, thunder and lightning.  One cell sat on top of us for 20-30 minutes with winds up to 55 mph.  Scott fired up the engines and every once in a while shifted into gear to take the load off the anchor.  To say it was frightening is putting it mildly, but thankfully we held our anchor as did the other 12 or so boats around us.  After the storms passed the sea was still quite lumpy so sleeping was pretty much out of the question.  It was a long night.

3/26/16

Daylight brought us a beautiful sunrise and calm seas.  We stayed put until midday then moved with 4 other boats to a place on the chart called Memory Rock.  The plan was to anchor there and get an early start for the 76 mile trip to Ft. Pierce inlet.  The "anchorage" is simply a point on the chart that, hopefully, is not on the route of other boats who might be transiting.  There is nothing there.  Nothing.  The nearest land 20 miles to West End on Grand Bahama and 76 miles to FL.  During the middle of the night, wind met current which made for another unpleasant evening.

3/27/16

Wide awake at 03:00, the plan was to leave at 04:00.  We hauled anchor and set out for Ft Pierce Inlet.  It was very dark and a bit unsettling to travel with only the electronic instruments to guide us.  There were a few 'blips' on the radar that we navigated around without ever seeing them.  At least one was a very large freighter many hundreds of feet long.  By the time the sun rose, we had been traveling for about 3 hours.  The trip started out fine but as the day went on, the wind blew harder.  The seas were out of the southeast and began to build from 3-5' so it was a very tedious day, arriving in Ft. Pierce about 14:00.

Center of the Universe Rock on Bahamas Bank

Sunrise after the storms of 3/25

Sunrise out in the gulf stream

Winding down in the Bahamas

Which author this time?  DeMille, Connelly, Child, Sandford?

View atop Hope Town Lighthouse

What to order?

Marsh Harbour Pickleball Players

Bonfire, hot dogs, conch horn at sunset - life is great!

RMHYC Treasure Cay Golf Tourney - 1st place team

Margarita Madness - 1st place water balloon toss

Every Child Counts (ECC) final concert

Worlds Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade - 300 ft.

on our way to St. Peter's for Palm Sunday

St. Peter's on Green Turtle Cay

Having fun on Green Turtle Cay

Do you need a glass with that Kalik?

A welcomed visit from Ipswich - the Barous', the Fabri's and the Scopa's!
We moved Mascot to the dock at the rental house (RumRunner) for the week which worked out great.  The weather cooperated which allowed us to cruise to Tilloo Cay, Man-o-War Cay, Guana Cay and Elbow Cay (Hope Town).  We supplemented with a land cruise to Cherokee and Little Harbour, and also to Treasure Cay.  Great time with lots of laughs, food and of course rum!

Mascot docked at RumRunner

Feeding fish at the Blue Hole in Little Harbour

at Treasure Cay

at Nippers

at Firefly

MUSIC IN THE BAHAMAS

What do professional Nashville songwriters, The Barefoot Man, and Rake & Scrape all have in common?  They can be seen and heard right here in our little piece of the Bahamas.  Everyone will likely understand songwriters form Nashville and could imagine that The Barefoot Man is an entertainer and you would be correct.  But what is Rake & Scrape you ask?

In an earlier blog post we talked about the Combustion Music Songwriter’s festival held in Hope Town.  Well, we had another one too!  In February, Nashville heavyweight Patrick Davis brought a few of his friends for a similar festival in and around Hope Town with some of the venues being different from the group in December.  The performances were spread over several days and the performers are songwriters who are responsible for many major hits recorded by big name stars.  They performed in ‘the round’ where one performer would tell a little story about themselves or how the song was created and then sing the song and accompany themselves on guitar.  There would often be a little banter among themselves and the other performers might strum a little background rhythm.  Then, the spotlight would move on to the next in line and would continue that way.  We were able to take in 5 of the 7 performances, sometimes commuting by dinghy to the venue.  Very fun!

The Barefoot Man is a Caribbean music icon sometimes compared to Jimmy Buffett only different.  He performs such classic hits as “She Loves my Deck”, “Dirty Belly Button”, “Fake Boobies”, etc. etc.  You get the picture.  The swimsuit clad crowd goes wild, dancing while singing all the lyrics.  The concert is held on Friday afternoon and then again on Saturday night at Nippers beach bar on Guana Cay.  It is quite a spectacle.

Now for Rake & Scrape.  This is a classic Bahamian music style performed on a standard handsaw using a screwdriver to rake and scrape across the teeth of the saw.  It sounds quite boring but in the hands of an experienced player like Abaco favorite Brown Tip, the sound is quite complicated.  Holding the saw handle just under the arm pit and flexing the blade while rasping and banging with the screwdriver, add a little background from an electronic drum track, perhaps a limbo pole, and you have a party!

Songwriters opening night at Sea Spray Resort

Songwriters at Hope Town Inn & Marina

At 'The Edge'

Very fun night at Firefly 

Patrick Davis (red shirt) at Abaco Inn

Crowd going wild to
Barefoot Man

Barefoot Man at Nippers

Rake & Scrape

What have we been doing?

Weather is always top of mind, we rely on 'Barometer Bob' to plan our adventures. January and February presented us with some cool and windy days so cruising the Sea of Abaco was somewhat limited.  

What a difference a day makes!
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Forecast:  0% chance of rain, sunny, warm with highs in the 70's, low humidity, light breeze

Sunday, January 17, 2016
Forecast:  70% chance of rain, cloudy, temps mid 70's, winds 25-35 mph with gusts 
over 40

Post storm tent repairs.

It takes a village-happy hour can resume.

MASCOT securely tied in her slip

The Royal Marsh Harbour Yacht Club hosts a number of events during the winter season with everything from country to formal to beach parties, Jib Room steak night, Jamies meatloaf night and more.

Country Western Night took place end of January.  We enjoyed a BBQ dinner, dancing and everyone found some form of country western attire, even us in our denim and a hat from the hardware store.

The theme for the Commodore's Ball was 'A Night at the Oscar's' complete with red carpet and our very own Joan River's wanna be. Thankfully Scott had his tux!  Doesn't everyone carry a tux on board?





A trip to Little Harbour to visit friends and of course, Pete's Pub.

Waterfront dining at Pete's

Abandoned lighthouse

MASCOT in the background on a mooring

Scott enjoying a swim in the ocean