Is it really just Springtime?

It is still only March, but here in Georgia it feels like summer to many of us.  Yesterday's temperature got to 88 degrees and it starting to get humid.  To people who live here it feels like it is supposed to, springtime.  They do not open the pool until May.  What do we do to cool off?  Well we talked about getting a kiddy pool to put on the dock for us humans to put our feet in and the dogs to lay in.  We were told that someone tried that last year and were told to remove it.  So what to us 'northerners' do?  We congregate in the only shade we could find.  The pavilion.  It has fans so it does feel cooler and we are out of the direct sunlight.   Here Bill supplements the cooling shade with a libation.

Ruby and Chevy think that wrestling will make them cooler. 

Chevy is pooped so Jingles stepped in to play with Ruby.

Ruby then stops for a drink from the faucet.  Chevy and Jingles did not.

Jimmy Chew Chew just looked on.

Gene tried to talk Chevy into getting a drink, but Chevy just thought he was nuts.

And there ends another day in paradise.

:-)  /)

Entertainment Dock Style

Yesterday was such a normal day for us I don't even know what to write.  There could be what entertains us though.  Right off I would would say Ruby and Chevy on Drift Away.  They are now a lot closer since they moved some of the boats around.  Ruby is still moping a bit, but she is getting a little better.  I ( along with most of C-Dock) are kept amused by those two.  Then Jingles comes along from the other end of C-Dock and it is like Dancing with the Stars, only the pups not humans. 

The other thing that can keep us amused is the normal going ons of the marina.  Gene needed a pump out so they needed to bring the hose from D to C Dock.  They do this by tying a rope to the hose which is attached to the pump.  One dock hand did catch the rope and pull it in but had trouble opening the nozzle.  He asked for DW-40, then really tried.  The other hand came over and poof, it opened. (note that I am not using any names here),  Well, Bill decided that was ok, so we would get a pump out too.  All went well.  Then he said, well I guess I will fill the water tanks.  Two minutes later, clang, and our only universal key is sinking.

Soon after 2 dock hands take Drift Away's dinghy away for repair.  That does not seem funny you say.  But every time anyone walks by Drift Away, or even close, Chevy sounds his alarm.  This time Chris and Andrew did the maneuvering and towed the dinghy way.  Not a sound of Chevy or Ruby.

As you can see there are not any pictures today.  Why?  During all of the observance of these I was sunning myself in the cockpit.

:-)  /)

Technology and the Sailboat

As I mentioned yesterday, Enigma is our home.  When people ask what it is like for us on our 35 foot sailboat, I say it is kind of like living in an RV, only on the water.  RV you may say?  Well, yes.  Enigma has the berths, head with shower, sink, stove and oven.  We do not have a refrigerator but we do have a large ice box.  This is like an extra big built-in cooler that has a shelf.  We feed it ice blocks and ice cubes when it gets hungry. Unlike your stoves and ovens in a home we need to turn on the propane gas then lite the burner.  Bill has pretty much mastered regulating the heat.  Me, not so much.

What we seem to do a lot of is read.  Books, newspapers, magazines.  Which brings me to some technology we brought with us.  Besides reading I have a Droid phone.  I use this many times during the day.  I play games with it.  I use facebook to see what some friends and family is up to.  I am not sure how to use twitter but I follow a few tweeters, like CNN, the Weather Channel, People Magazine.  Yes, People is sort of gossipy, but how else would I know that Ashton Kutcher and Rhianna were 'stepping out' together.  Actually I just read that this morning.  Care not.  Bill thinks at times it is surgically attached to my hand.  I still have not mastered the thumb typing yet.  I use the one finger hunt and peck.  What we actually bought it for was to use the hotspot to connect to the internet when there is no wi-fi for us to use the PC. 

Oh, the PC.  Yes, we have a laptop we use also. I use it to download pictures, read my e-mail and update the blog.  Sometimes I research stuff.  Bill uses the laptop more, because I just use the phone.  He researches and reads news.  Downloads pics and quickly checks facebook.  He is not one for games on the internet except one.  Margaritaville.  And he is darn good at it.  We use it for the mundane stuff too.  Like taxes and paying the bills.

Of course there is the TV.  As the weather gets warmer we use this less and less.  Mostly for an hour or three at night.  TV does count as technology, right? 

;-)   /)_



Enigma is our Home

Living aboard our boat can sometimes be just like living in a home.  Except we are on the water.  With a nice view.  Surrounded by nice boats.  And it is real nice to be docked sometimes.  We have normal days and just do normal things.  Yesterday we took the loaner car to the mall.  I went to the bank and Bill went to Barnes and Noble.  Since we were out we went to Dillinger's for lunch.    See, normal. Back at the boat we read a bit.  I did some researching of e-books since we don't have a place to store many books.  Some marina's have a 'leave one/take one', but they are pretty small.  If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions please just leave a comment here.  I am getting myself confused.    Then we watched some TV.  We do have one on the boat.

And we our drinks set while we waited for Happy Afternoon to begin.

Note to self:  I do need to reorganize that shelf again.  It is full mostly of books and important stuff.  See the roll of Duct tape?  In my red cup I am drinking Four Loko.  Apparently they banned it in Connecticut because it contains alcohol.  It is clearly labeled as such but I guess those silly college kids were getting ahold of it somehow and getting too drunk.  Guess now they just need to go back to getting drunk on beer.

Then came Happy Afternoon.  It was a small gathering as it was chilly (66 degrees) and windy.  Pam from Drift Away needed to fly back to upstate New York (very cold there) on family business.  We all need to do that now and then.  Ruby is sooooo sad, waiting for her momma to come back home.

  Another day comes to a close.  We are hoping to be back on the water in about 2 weeks.

:-)   /|)

I Love Mondays in Isle of Hope

Today I finally cleaned out my clothes in the v-berth.  I have come to realize that there are some things I can put away, like heavy sweaters.  I did come to terms that no matter what I just am not going to fit into my size 2 jeans and shorts again.  No matter the excuse of 'they must have shrunk' it just won't happen.  I did end up with 2 bags that will go to Goodwill.  What I did find was my bathing suits.  They do fit, why???  they stretch!!  While trying on one Bill yelled to me that there was an Old Fashioned Car Parade.  And Music.  I grabbed a sarong (I was not leaving the boat with just a bikini), flip flops and camera and off I went.  Here are a few pictures of the cars.

Even though it was late morning it was still very warm.  It appeared that even Kermit the Frog had a hard time sitting up in the bright sunshine.

There was music from a small band and people were dancing to the tunes.

I try to learn one thing a day.  Today I learned I can no longer play the Sun Goddess and lay outside to get a tan for hours on end.  Today I lasted about 1/2 hour.  That would be 15 minutes per side.  The sun is hotter here.  Isn't it?

Ok, Ok, I know, I KNOW....

I apologize to everyone that sent me messages via Facebook, my phone and in person.  I did say I would update this daily and it has been almost a week.  I could say that I had writers block, but that would be a lie, as good as it may sound.  Honestly, I just didn't feel like it.  I didn't take any pictures and thought without them life aboard a sailboat that was just sitting at the dock in Isle of Hope would be boring to all.  From what I heard I was WRONG.  Again, I apologize.

Wednesday afternoon was our pot luck.  There was so much great food.  We found out that the kids from MY Panache were also in a band.  There was a jam session at Sammy's home that some of C-Dock went to.  Unfortunately Bill and I and a few others did not.  Guess we are showing our age.  Maybe next time.

One day last week, not a clue which day as they are all running together, Pam, Dave, Bill, Me, and Gene took Gene's son Chris out to lunch.  He is an Army Ranger and is doing another tour of duty in Afghanistan.  We learned that he also was awarded a bronze star.  So cool.

Many of the days were spent reading and playing games on my phone with the Happy Afternoon, which has become part of the C-Dock routine now.  Yesterday we had a new comer to our gathering.  It was Ed, the actual owner of Panache.  Dave cooked hot dogs and Pam put out a nice spread of salads and stuff.  As usual, their dog Chevy was the lookout for anyone new coming down the dock.

While his sister Ruby just played to the camera.

And I finaly got a picture of Gerty, who really rules the roost on Drift Away.

That's it for now.  Today has some happenings going on that I will let y'all know about tomorrow.
~_/|~

They all slide forward

Some of these days are a lot like the last.  Kind of like a "Here we go again" theme.  A saying has started that "You can come to Isle of Hope Marina, but you can never leave", reminding me of the Eagles Hotel California.  The reason for this seems to be two fold.  If you need some work done, no matter how minor, the people that do it will be here, after many phone calls.  Bill thinks it is like being in the Islands where "Come Soon" is the saying.  Then, since you are here you figure, well I might as well get this there thing done.  It is a vicious circle.  Secondly, the computers is the office always seem to be down when you need to pay, extending your time here.

So yesterday, since Drift Away has been here longer than they expected and will be here for a little while longer, they needed a pump out.  Many of us are already in a spot so we don't need to move to get pumped out if we are staying awhile.  They were just out of reach.  This has now become the entertainment of the day for C-Dock.  The marina needed to get boats closer anyway to fit in the transients that will be coming from the south to go north for the summer anyway. First they moved Journey to... forward a couple of yards.  Then their dingy along with Drift Aways.  Then they pulled Drift Away forward.  Right behind them was Miss Muffet, a pretty yacht that came in on Monday.  Along with the dock hands and the captain some of C-Dock also helped. 

A little later, as you may have guessed, was C-Docks Happy Afternoon.  Chevy, one of the dogs on Drift Away, was a little confused.  He walked down the dock, paused in front of Drift Away and looked up.  He then proceeded further down to Miss Muffet, who was now in the spot where Drift Away was.  Chevy sat down next to Miss Muffet, smelled around where the gate would be to get on, looked up quizzically, tilting his head as dogs sometimes do, the proceeded back to Drift Away and sat for a minute.   He then came back to us partiers and looked at us like "Okay, who decided to move my house!"  Chevy has the best expressions of any dog I have ever met.

Gnats were really in full force so some of us retired inside our boats early.  Tomorrow is our Pot Luck Dinner.  My tummy is rumbling already thinking of the food.  :-)

The Horseradish Hunt

Today started out as another warm and sunny day in the Isle of Hope.  SV Journey To,,,(that is what they are going to name the boat next to us) had already left for the day when I ventured out of the boat to shower and get the paper and some much needed coffee.  Wednesday we are having a pot luck dinner in the pavillion.  Bill will be making deviled eggs.  He needed some ingredients so off to Wally World we did go.  After a while of me looking through the clothes I caught up with him in the food section.  He asked me to get the horseradish.  I started at the wall coolers right in the beginning.  Mind you Wall Mart walls are very, very long.  No luck.  Next I looked in the floor coolers. Nothing.  Ok, so I went to the coolers in the aisles that were mostly frozen foods.  Hey, ya never know.  Na Da.  I did a repeat and still nothing.  I asked two employees.  They didn't know.  I asked two women that were just shopping, one did not know and the second said she wasn't busy and would help me look.  I couldn't go back to Bill empty handed.  He would think his wife really had no clue in the food markets.  The one lady, who I found had just moved here four years ago from Rhode Island, could not find it either.  She was asking an employee when we ran into Bill, who apparently was also looking for it.  The employee told us aisle 5, top shelf.  How could I have missed that.  Well that was because it was not horseradish but horseradish sauce.  We gave up and went to lunch.  After this we each got a refreshment and sat on the side of the boat.  Gene came over to talk to us.  He had finished his daily washing of his boat.

Yes, I did say daily.  Next thing you know people just started coming over for another lazy Happy Afternoon.  Funny how this happens.  Even the dogs like this time of day.



And the girls of C-Dock.

Some of the guys from the Motor Yacht Panache came to join us.  It was Parker's Dads boat and they were using it to hang out on for spring break.  I didn't catch all of the names or them in pics.  Here are some.

We will see what tomorrow brings. :-)

They call this Hangover Day

The locals in Savannah call the day after St. Patrick's Day Hangover Day.  I think that refers mostly to the youngin's that party until 3am on River Street Downtown.  For most of us at the marina it is more like just another day.  I woke up around 8 but chose not to even venture out of Enigma until somewhere around noon.  Like most days I had no schedule.  When I went up to shower I ran into Gene who was just coming back, and then Pam, Bill and Pat in the Pavillion.  Pam wacs also coming back from the showers and Bill was on his way for Ice Cream.  Yeah, it was a warm and lazy kinda day for all of us.  I just read the rest of the afternoon.  The conversations outside of the boat were getting louder.  Happy Afternoon on C-Dock has begun.  I grabbed a Peach Daquiri (love these pre-made ones) and headed out.  These gatherings are always somewhere on C-Dock, this time it was in front of Enigma.  Already Bill, Tom, Pam, Dave, Pat, Dan and Deb and Dick from the sailboat (Yet to have a naming ceremony) were out there.  Soon came Gene and Brian who works in the yard.  We called over a transient couple, Gary and Merideth, to join us.  Then a boat called Miller Time came in.  It was past 5:00 and since the marina was closed some of C-Dock became dock hands and apparently did a great job.  The couple and their cute little pup came to join us.  Then came to univited, unwanted guests.  The GNATS!!  I was layered in 3 different kinds of repellent, put on a light long sleeve hoodie, yoga pants.  Little by little we all gave up.
So goes it for the retired party animals on C-Dock.  Tomorrow is another day. :-)

Savannah St. Patrick's Day

Savannah was lucky enough to have St. Patrick's Day, March 17 2012, fall on a Saturday.  Temperature was between 85 and 90 degrees with no rain in sight.  The night before 7 of us on C-Dock (quickly becoming known as the party dock) decided that we would take a van taxi to the downtown festivities and parade.  In the morning there was five of us going.  Pam, Dave, Gene, Bill and I.  $10.00 each wasn't too bad.  Savannah is said to be the second largest St. Paddy's Day Parade and Celebration in the world.  First would be New York City.  The taxi dropped us at a point the closest he could get us.  We then started to walk to the crowds.  And there were crowds.  We stopped at one of the parks.  People here were fun to watch.  And the set ups people had you would have thought that they were tailgating at a football team whose color was green.  The tables, food, beer, wine, mixed concoctions and one group were even drinking champagne.  There was green EVERYWHERE.  The dress of the day was green and anything goes.  Like this guy in a green tootoo. (in the background.)



I even found a Leprechaun for me to hug to try and get some luck going.



We ended up finding a place on a corner to view the parade, but we were a couple of rows back.  I am not very tall so I just held up my camera and hoped for the best. What I got was the back of peoples heads.  Here is Pam's with her hair up because it is sooo hot.

As I mentioned before, EVERYTHING is green.  This is the fountain in Forsyth Park.  There was a ceremony last week called "The  Greening of the Fountains". Green foodcoloring is added to the water.



Part way through Dave and Pam deceided to get something to eat.  Later Bill, Gene and I thought that was a good idea.  But is was a 45 minute wait and I was very hungry.  We went across the street to The Mirage that was also a huka lounge.  We got our drinks and ordered our food.  I am not sure what happened with the order but we left with no food.  Wandering the streets some more we saw the Marines going by in the parade We went from there to get out of the crowded streets but we found we were Trapped!!  You see the parade route is like a square with few little jogs.  We were stuck on the inside.  After getting out to an intersection where traffic was moving I called a taxi.  25 minutes later I called for a status and was told "He's almost there".  That was a lie.  45 minutes later we walked back to the park for the facilities.  I called a different company and was told it was a 2 hour wait.  At least they did not lie.  In the rode I waived down a taxi and he picked us up 10 minutes later on his return trip.  All in all it was a nice day.  People here call Sunday "Hangover Day".  I don't have one but did sleep late.

Pets Galore

Today was a normal, very warm day in Isle of Hope.  Boats leaving to go north or south and some coming in to stay a while or just a night.  Pam from Drift Away needed to donate some clothing so I took a ride with her to GoodWill.  I got off pretty good.  Three books and a pair of pants for a total of $4.00.  Pam got a few more items but did not spend much more.  We stopped for lunch then came back.  A nice morning break to a routine that I don't even have.  Now, Bill and I only have a robotic dog on board, put there are quite a few pets that greet us each day.  The first one that we met was Jingles who owns Dan and Pat on the Trawler Ironhore (pronounced Iron Ore).

Then there is Tipper who owns Diane on the trawler Kindred Spirit.

Cali owns Larry and Jean on SV Wye Not.  They left 2 days ago to go North.

On Chevy and Ruby own Dave and Pam of the Trawler Dirft Away.

They also have a sister kitty named Dirty Gerti.  I will get a picture of her.  She seems to be a bit camera shy.  She purrs and rubs her ears against you but when I would snap a picture I would get a side or a butt.  Lastly, riight now anyway is Jimmy Cho, or Chi Chi he is sometimes called.  She owns the two guys (I never did get their names yet) on SV Whirlwind.

Tomorrow is the St. Patricks Day.  Savannah is expecting over one million people for the parade.  This should be fun.



Isle of Hope - How Long Will We Be Here?

We thought we would be in Isle of Hope, GA through the end of January.  NOT!  This really is a gorgeous place.  Arrived on 12/18/2011.  On 12/19/2011 we just wrote out Christmas Cards (yes, we still do that).  Got Pizza delivery from Papa Johns and that was it.  Oh yes, it is December 19 and we had to put the screens in due to the real warm weather.  As I said the homes around here are so pretty and the spanish moss on the trees on the streets make a beautiful scene.

We see barges on the water too.

Enigma is too small for a Christmas Tree, but we did decorate for the holidays.



We went to downtown on Riverstreet.

There are also many liveaboards here.  Some staying like Pat and Dan as well as Gene.  Then those like us and Pam and Dave who liveaboard and are here a bit longer than we thought.  But we all have fun and have some good times on C-Dock.

Even the dogs.

And some of us even visted Tybee Island.  We went with Pam and Dave and brought along the Garmin so we didn't get lost.  She (Garmin) sometimes seems to play with people and the directions.  She does get us to the destination, even if it is not always straight forward.  Here is the beach, pavillion and the light house.

Well, tomorrow is March 17, 2012.  I will try to update this daily.  I know I said while I was at work that I would do a blog.  I do want to thank Dave and Pam on Drift Away for inspiring me and giving me tips on getting this up and running.  Please also visit their blog at http://www.trawlerdriftaway.blogspot.com/.