CODA BAHAMAS BOUND 2024-2025 (56)

CODA :  Last day on the boat (Holiday break begins tomorrow)

22 November 2024

Palm Coast Marina, Palm Coast, Florida  

Nice pose from a Great Blue Heron.

Marc-  Not much excitement today.  More boat cleaning and maintenance.  I enjoyed a nice walk over to the Bike shop to pick up a new wheel.  The three broken spoke wheel from yesterday was not worth fixing according to the bike technician.  It was easy to put the new wheel on even though it is not the quick release type like the one it replaced.  There was one interesting encounter at the bike shop.  As I walked up to the bike shop a little old lady and her two adorable miniature collies drove up in a tricycle with a parasol on top.  She didn't look a day over 100 and the dogs looked well trained.  She got right off the bike and helped her little pups out.  Both of them came over and started licking my hands.  All three of them, the lady and the two mini collies walked right up to the counter and asked if someone could put air in her tires.  The tech dropped everything and pulled an air hose down from the ceiling.  It took only a minute to check and fill the tires.  I commented on her nice red tricycle with a disc brake on the front wheel.  She then explained that this had an electric kicker.  She described it as electric power assist when she felt it was needed.  She added that she was a diabetic and there are times when her energy level gets low and her bike with the "kicker" gets her and the dogs home.

My only successful maintenance projects were varnishing the remaining cockpit floor grids and installing a fan in the head.  It was 47 degrees when we rose this morning and tonight is headed for a cool 41 degrees.  I set the timer for 540 minutes at 68 degrees and the diesel heater kept us warm all night. Hoping for a repeat performance tonight!

I am confident that it will not get below freezing here. 

The water pipes are mostly controlled above ground.

Colors looking East from the marina reflecting the sunset.

More marina road sunset colors.

Goodness gracious great balls of fire.  Now that is a sunset.

Fading fast.

Sue and I will return January 6th!

Lou- Oh man! Last blog entry for me for this trip!

Today we folded up and stored the bikes, ate most of the rest of our food (we're at the point where we're putting together weird meals, just to empty the fridge, which I enjoy the creative challenge of!), and Dad did a million projects! 

I worked some more on my paper towel novel and met some of our neighbors. There was someone with a British accent! And a guy with a little black dog named Burrito. Another sailor was decorating his boat with twinkly lights for the holidays.

Tomorrow we've got to fill up the water tanks, eat all the rest of our perishable food, clean our linens, check the electrical switches (I don't know what this means, but it's on the list), spray for insects, duct tape the anchor pipes, pack, tidy up, and go! Our flight leaves at 5pm, so we should have enough time!

Well, this has been epic! Thanks for reading :)! Toodaloo!

Marc- We found a ride to the airport tomorrow... in Jacksonville! Unfortunately, we need to get to the airport at Daytona Beach, so I guess we'll be taking a Lyft!

CODA BAHAMAS BOUND 2024-2025 (55)

CODA :  boat maintenance continued and bike drama

 21 November 2024

Palm Coast Marina, Palm Coast, Florida  

Yes Palm trees are common here but certainly not the dominant species.

Various palms here in the "city".

Marc-  It was depth finder install part II today with taking the bikes out to West Marine for special epoxy to glue in the transducer.  Much cooler on the bikes this morning after a cold front came through last night bringing temperatures down to 49 degrees at 06:00.  I re-installed the transducer but it does not seem to work.  I will call the company for technical assistance tomorrow.  I did some teak refinishing of the cockpit grates that was showing some wear and tear.  All looks very nice now.  I think we will store them in the pilot house while we are home in Vermont for the holidays.

During our last biking trip today I heard a "bing" sound and then noticed something that sounded like a branch caught in the rear spokes.  It was not a branch but a broken spoke.  Unfortunately we did not have any spares and we were miles from the nearest bike repair shop (we are deep inside a tropical forest).  I twisted the broken spoke around another so it wound not stick me in the leg.  Several miles and a few bumps later I heard another "bing" and then another "bing" (do you see where this is going).  Now with three broken spokes the wheel was now warped and very difficult to ride on.  Sara is thinking I'm having some heath crisis since I was falling further and further behind.  Finally I got off and walked the last mile to the marina.  After lunch we walked over to the bike shop.  The bike technician promised to fix everything by tomorrow.  Lesson learned: carry extra spokes and the tools to replace them.

Duck weed covered river we crossed.

One of several bridges spanning the forest rivers.

At this point we were still having fun.

Now back to the trees. Notice how tall the Long leaf pine trees grow here (over 100 feet tall). 

 The pines dwarf the Palm trees.

Long leaf pine.  These pines are incredibly straight and tall.

My best forest photo ever.  Look at those palm trees trying to compete with the pine trees.

This cat was near a trailhead.  Kind of looks like a Vermont Catamount.

Florida panthers are not extinct, only rare.  Latest numbers place about 150 mostly females living in South Florida.  The males venture north all the way into Georgia.  These panthers are brown in color and have a tail 2/3 the length of their body.  Florida also has Bobcats like Vermont.

Lou- Cooler temps today! Dad said when he went on an early morning walk there were even people in winter coats! 

By the time the sun rose, we were fine in shorts and t-shirts, but the locals stayed pretty bundled up.

Dad did a great job of covering pretty much everything else, except his midday nap. After all the bike drama, the poor guy was exhausted! A pint of of Hershey's chocolate vanilla swirl also helped!

While Dad napped, I worked on a writing project. I didn't think to bring a notebook or any paper with me, so I've been writing on a paper towel roll! It's actually pretty fun! I feel a little like Jack Kerouac typing up On the Road on that epic scroll of his.

 

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 CODA :  boat maintenance in an exotic place.

20 November 2024

Palm Coast Marina, Palm Coast, Florida  

Another 40+ foot Canadian sailboat headed for the Bahamas (Why do I feel left behind).

Marc-  Today was forecast to be a wet and wild day as the remnants of hurricane Sara rolled on through.  What was left of the storm headed for the Florida Panhandle (nowhere near us).  We were left with 80 degree temperatures, high humidity winds of 15 knots or so.  No rain whatsoever!

Now on to our plan to do inside boat maintenance today.  We installed a new depth finder (almost).  Everything seemed to go well except the two part epoxy that failed to harden.  I ended up cleaning up the mess and will start over tomorrow (the epoxy is for an inside depth transducer.  We followed the directions perfectly and everything tested out including putting the the transducer in a plastic zip locked bag and placing it on the inside of the hull.  The depth reading was spot on.  

We did spend time riding our bikes back and forth twice to Home Depot for a total of about 6 miles if you include taking the waterfront scenic route back.  

You know how I love to take sunset photos.

Sara and I followed the pretty lights to see what could be at the end of this rainbow.

Townhouses.  At first sight this didn't seem bad but it is actually 4 townhouses, each for about $ 350k.

You all know I enjoy more simpler and lower cost pleasures.

Lou- Home Depot day!

First we got a ride in the morning with Dad's new friend. He entertained us with stories of "snake fish". Have you heard of them? Apparently they sort of look likes snakes, but they have legs! They move around in the water and on land and eat things that are important to the local ecosystem of wherever he was talking about.

Apparently there's a bounty on them!

He told us the most popular way of hunting them is with bow and arrows. 

The second time we went to Home Depot was on the bikes. It was so humid today I didn't really want to do anything, but the wind was refreshing as we cycled!

Gotta go! Goodnight :)

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 CODA : Winterizing the boat in a land without winter.

19 November 2024

Palm Coast Marina, Palm Coast, Florida 

This is our eastern hurricane barrier.  It should slow the wind a bit anyways.  The other secret is to have no nearby ocean inlets.  This place also has very little tides.

Marc-  I continued some more winter storage preparation including resetting all of the fenders and double checking all of our lines.  Both air conditioning units are now working again (some of the duct work had come undone).  I did some more work on the starboard teak gunwale that had been damaged by the previous owner and only quickly repaired by me before our departure on this trip.  One of the local boaters brought me out to Home Depot to get some epoxy to install a new depth sounder transducer (on the inside of the hull).  

Our biggest event of the day was biking about the miles and miles of Palm Coast trails.  We did some 30 miles of trails and even a short stretch of the King's Highway (unfortunately it was not much wider than it was when built by some royalty: Spanish of English).  The trails themselves are really nice with most being about 10 feet wide and with wide bridges.  We did take a look at some mountain bike trails but thought twice about it ( yes even if Florida does not have mountains) after seeing the various jump ramps at the beginning of one trail.  There is a bike trail that goes to the Post Office that we've used some.

No this is not the bikers highway to heaven, just a new elevated bridge over wetlands.

We are very content with the many wooden bike bridges in this area.

This is not just one trail.  It is the conversion of the main east-west rail line 

and the spur lines here on its eastern end.  All are smooth and have the modern concrete bridges.

There are many sights to see.  We have seen the first three animals and all of the tree types.

This place really is popular with monarch butterflies.

Not quite sure what was scenic about the King's Highway.  Maybe it just leads to somewhere scenic.

Lou- I was delighted to run into my favorite neighbor, a calico boat cat named Willow, on our post-dinner stroll tonight!

Her human claims she's normally very shy, but she's super friendly with us, so we feel special!

He also told us that alligators used to haunt this marina!! Like, they would stalk Willow around the docks! 

She never came to any harm, but one of the boaters did.

Apparently there was a person who thought it was a good idea to feed the gators. She got caught at it several times and was told to stop, but she kept at it, just more sneakily. One night, she was giving the gators a snack and one decided it was hungry for more and took a bite at her! 

17 stitches later, she was ok, but she hasn't been back to the marina since.

As for the gator, Willow's human concluded his story with a mournful, "A fed gator is a dead gator."

Apparently alligators don't come around this marina anymore.

That guy was a good storyteller! As we've stopped moving around, it's starting to sink in that this part of the adventure is ending, but talking to fascinating strangers keeps the spirit of exploration alive!

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 CODA : Another day in Palm Coast

18 November 2024

Palm Coast Marina, Palm Coast, Florida   

A new friend on a neighbor's boat.  This great blue heron poses well.

Marc-  Today was our first day of preparing Coda for her wet storage here in Florida.  Since we have done this before we know what to do.  We've arranged to leave one air conditioning unit on dehumidify while we're gone.  We changed out the dozen damp-rid buckets in all sorts of hidden parts off this boat.  It is early to change the oil so we will wait on that.  I had time to do some varnishing and add special enzyme treatment to the diesel fuel tanks.

Our two trips today were going to Home Depot on foot for needed supplies, and going for a bike ride for exercise.   The bike ride was certainly more fun.  Palm Coast has extensive bike paths that are a web of trails.  Our favorite bike path took us down a four mile elevated 10 foot wide boardwalk in the middle of a tropical forest.  We did several other small trails, 15 miles in total, and then returned home to Coda for dinner.

We saw this exotic purple berry bush on our way to Home Depot.

Enter through here for a magical mystery bike tour.

This sign kind of hints of what's in store for you in Palm Coast (the Monarch butterflies have stopped in on their migration and so have lots of birds).

People here take cycling seriously.  The City has invested heavily in at least 100 miles of bike paths.

Intriguing sky cloud cover today.

We took a walk to this nearby assemblage of shops and restaurants.  Unfortunately is was fairly quiet on a Monday.  There were a few pubs open and maybe a Sushi restaurant.

Inside the courtyard time stood still.

Quiet time.  

To be fair:  the place was quite busy on Sunday with a day long farmer's market and all of the restaurants and shops open.

Lou- My mom asked me what I thought of this place and I said, "I rate it high on nature, but low for culture!" 

"It's a nowhere man, nowheresville place," she agreed.

It seems like people come to their condos here and enjoy the warmth and beauty, but don't do much communally/create art. Totally fair to just want to chill out, but the lack of enterprise creates a sort of spooky soulless feeling-- at least in the European Village tonight!

The bike paths rule though! This is the best cycling day we've had since Jekyll! 

A new friend of dad's recommended a path with long stretches of boardwalks, which are one of my favorite things ever, especially in a beautiful, green place.

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 CODA : Winter Holiday pause in Palm Coast

17 November 2024

Palm Coast Marina, Palm Coast, Florida  

Marc-  We were warmly welcomed by Rosine, the Marina Manager.  We had stopped here in 2020 and again in 2021 and had fond memories of the marina itself and the surrounding town park system that includes many miles of walking and biking trails. 

I backed into this slip since the finger piers are only 10 feet long and would not reach our side entry gates if we came bow in (ask me how I know this).  Docking was easy enough and then we noticed that most of the boats had extra dock lines for the anticipated hurricane SARA.  We followed suit and put on double lines.

The facilities are nice here and it makes someone want to stay awhile.  We are leaving in several days to catch a flight out of Daytona Beach to return home in Vermont for the holidays.  We will use the few extra days to do some boat maintenance (there is always something to be done on a boat).

We did take a 5 mile exercise walk ( we did 8.2 miles yesterday but who is counting).  The ICW walking trial here is very nice, crossing several creeks for kayak rentals.  Others come to the fishing piers.

My new egret friend for the day.  Fishing is big here.

Which trail do we take?  So many choices!

We chose the ICW trail with its live oaks because it had the Children's Memorial Garden.

We are in man made waterways here surrounded by condominium buildings.

How can these buildings not slow down the wind?

Another great Florida sunset.

Lou- I asked Dad to take a picture of the No Wake sign because wow! Power boaters around here don't listen to this rule!

I was aghast as boat after boat zoomed by us (not one offering a slow pass) this morning, but Dad says it's normal in Florida on the weekends.

I also saw a concerning number of Trump flags today. 

The people we met face-to-face were nice though. There was Rosine (goes by Ro), the cool front desk lady at the marina, a nice guy on a huge catamaran also headed to the Bahamas, and a man on an after-dinner stroll with his super sweet cat, Willow. 

The paths around here are lovely! Dad had warned me that there was nothing here really other than condos and bike paths, so I'd set my expectations low, but it's actually really nice here! Lots of greenery and water, and the air seems extra fresh. Looking forward to biking! 

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 CODA : Day 2 in Saint Augustine

16 November 2024

St. Augustine Municipal Mooring Field (Menendez), St. Augustine, Florida  

This turtle catches the spirit of St. Augustine (taken at local gallery).

Marc-  Today was a day to relax and explore the city.  The first order of business was learning to summon and take the free shuttle (otherwise known as a free launch) to the marina central dock.  It runs every two hours starting at 10:00 but only if you make a request via VHF radio on channel 71.  The Spanish architecture in the place is very enchanting (seen nowhere else in Florida to this degree).  The San Marcos Castle guarding the harbor has never been defeated in battle and is still standing.  The Colonial City Hall also remains and many other Spanish period buildings. Others like the Ponce de Leon Hotel, the Casa Monica and The Flagler College building are Spanish inspired architecture of a more modern era.  

We walked a bit around town and then headed off to get groceries and then back to Coda for lunch.  Later we strolled around the waterfront taking in the Christmas decor that will be in full bloom here in a few days when they turn on over 1 million lights for the Holiday season.  We attended Mass at the Spanish Cathedral.  The interior is fascinating and the priest's sermon was definitely Dominican.  He explained in no uncertain terms that the Bible is not to be taken literally but rather symbolically.  He did have to deal with the apocalyptic teachings of Saint Marc's Gospel.   

I made a new friend today when coming ashore.

Part of Flagler College.

Part of the Ponce de Leon Hotel.

View of the Cathedral bell tower and City buildings from the Marina.

Commercial fishing is still big here.

There are a lot of National Park places in Florida.

It's Christmastime in the City.

Twilight fast approaching.

View from our AIS App.  Can you find Coda?  And the Castillo San Marcos?

The Menendez Mooring Field.

Unbelievable colors.

Sunset has arrived.

Lou- The roof of the church was bright red and painted with gold stars. Very cool! 

The Mass put me in a meditative headspace. It's nice just to sit quietly with other people.

The priest was young and charismatic, robed in vibrant pine green vestments. I wonder how he came to be a priest. As a kid, all the priests I saw were much older. My favorite was Father Bob who was good at connecting the readings to real life. The priest today was trying to do that, and did a pretty good job, but it felt a little forced. Like when a student writes an essay, and it's well written and the argument's ok, but you get a sense the writer hasn't convinced themself. The heart and the conviction isn't quite there. But the essay's still pretty good.

That said, it must be hard coming up with a new sermon every week! Especially when you're just starting out. 

We had to sneak out during communion and sprint back through the city to catch the last boat shuttle back home to Coda! The shuttle's great, but if you miss the last one at 6, you're stuck on land all night! Unless a boater at the dinghy dock takes pity on you. "I've heard all sorts of sob stories," the mustachioed shuttle captain told us with a grin. He's great, by the way, and seems to enjoy gossip, though he keeps it very professional.

Mostly today we ran around getting supplies. I really enjoyed this one marine supply store called Sailor's Exchange!

Dad was a bit disappointed because he didn't find the water pump he wanted and he found things were a bit overpriced, but he told me last time he went there he found great stuff and was able to haggle! Apparently, if you show off your boating know-how they give you a deal. (Dad got 40% off.)

Dad says it also helps to look like a boater, so he made sure to wear a polo from Point Bay Marina.

I ran around like a kid in a candy shop, taking photos. Everything looked like treasure! It reminded me of walking around the workshop in my grandparents' basement as a kid, ogling all the pieces of wood and little metal bits and bobs, feeling the power of all the possibilities in those materials.

I'd definitely love to come back to St. Augustine sometime! I'd enjoy just a day of walking around the streets aimlessly. There's a good vibe and a lot more to discover!

But alas, we've gotta go! Until next time, twinkling tourist dream!

A shelf at Sailor's Exchange.

A huge bin of metal bits and bobs.

People really seem to enjoy digging through this stuff...  like looking for some hidden treasure.