Home again

Ahhh... it's good to be back aboard Istaboa and amongst our friends here in Stuart.

The drive was not bad at all. Our new (used-2008) car performed very well. Bluetec diesel avg mpg was 34.8. Not bad for a luxury car. We Americans need to hop on the diesel bandwagon, these German diesels are far ahead of hybrids and fast too.

The John Grisham audio book was excellent; The confession. We're not finished yet, we almost kept driving, but we have another 2 hours left. Great story.

Oh!... the highpoint of the trip was finding a little butcher shop in Albany, Georgia (pronounced Awlbeany) named Carroll's Sausage and meats. Truly wonderful sausage. Must order more. All their meat looked very good.

Gonna get the Albury out tomorrow while the weather is so nice. We have some of our old Compass Cay friends coming by in their new boat and they are staying here at Sunset Bay for New Year's Eve.
Should be fun.

Soooo  good to be back. Hope we can stay (or leave and head to the islands) for a while.

Adios,

Istaboa

It's time to take...

control of our own destiny.

 Looks like airline travel will be snarled up for a while, so we've cranked up the car and hit the road. Tired of taking 2 steps forward and 3 back. We're on the way with John Grisham's new book on CD to keep Radar interested. He loves audio books. (he has no thumbs to hold books ya know)

Been a while since we have done a 1000 mile road trip in a car, but it should be easier than the AICW.

Thanks to friends who've decided to stay at our house for a while to make sure we have no freezing at Rocky Point; we leave with no worries.

Next stop Albany, GA, then on to Stuart and Istaboa.

Adios,

Istaboa

Christmas in Cuba

Looks like a blast... Come on President Obama and Congress, lighten up and let us go. We promise to spread more freedom than you guys have done in your recent ventures.

In Cuba, Christmas is often celebrated with festival-like celebrations known as Parrandas, especially in the town of Remedios. These celebrations include fireworks, elaborate floats, costumes, and parades.
This year's celebrations were marked by Egyptian floats, fireworks, and partying into the night.
Looks like our kind of celebration!

Cut from the Huffinginton Post... More pics here... Parrandas

Istaboa

So while we're stuck in Memphis...

Found an interesting YouTube video about dolphins and how they think.
Worth watching.

And we Homo sapiens think we're so smart. Maybe we've finally evolved enough to realize we have a lot to learn about our relatives from the sea.
Hopefully the crew can catch a flight out soon and be back to hanging out with these guys again.

And for those who think dogs can't reason, click here.

Smartest Dogs: Moscow Stray Dogs

Uh.... plans?

Of Mice and Men... And Airlines, go oft awry.
And seems they will stay that way for a couple of days.

If all goes as planned...

We have made it back to the newly polished Istaboa and sunny Florida... or at least in the airport and on the way.

Stay safe everybody.

Adios,

Istaboa

20 Things I’ve Learned From Traveling Around the World for Three Years

Woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow. Rocky Point is always so pretty with a white back drop... Plus tonight is our traditional, nontraditional Christmas celebration with the fam.... this year with a little snow.

Gonna go out to break up the water we put out for the deer... maybe a little corn also. I'm afraid we, as well as the rest out our neighbors, have domesticated the deer. Now we feel responsible for them.

The title of this post is from an interesting article I read this morning that you may enjoy.

cut from Gary Arndt's blog
http://everything-everywhere.com/


On March 13, 2007, I handed over the keys to my house, put my possessions in storage and headed out to travel around the world with nothing but a backpack, my laptop and a camera.
Three and a half years and 70 countries later, I’ve gotten the equivalent of a Ph.D in general knowledge about the people and places of Planet Earth.
Here are some of the things I’ve learned…

1) People are generally good.

Many people are afraid of the world beyond their door, yet the vast majority of humans are not thieves, murderers or rapists. They are people just like you and me who are trying to get by, to help their families and go about living their lives. There is no race, religion or nationality that is exempt from this rule. How they go about living their lives might be different, but their general goals are the same.

Interesting read that's continued on page 2.

Kinda funny...

Tru food —O— da Gods... Payne's Barbecue!

Since we're back in Memphis, we had to make a run to Soulsville's Supreme Palace of Pork.

Payne's BBQ.

I called Ms. Payne and asked her to —please— make us a large batch of her most excellent Barbecue Sauce, in both hot and medium temps. This is by far Memphis' finest Barbecue shop in a town full of fine BBQ shops.
Housed in an old gas station where Horton, Ms Payne's now deceased husband, started smokin pork shoulders and ribs back in 1972. His name is still proudly displayed on the shop's awning.
I've been a loyal patron and disciple since about 1975, it's nice to see some things haven't changed.
It was very nice to see Flora Payne still smilin behind the counter.

“Thirty-eight years you know; you can perfect something in 38 years—oh pray—I pray over this food. Bless it.” – Flora Payne

More on page 2.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Though we won't be warm here at Rocky Point, our warmest wishes are for you all to have a safe and joyous holiday season. Crew Istaboa will return to Istaboa and warmth soon.
Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays... Be you Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, or any other religion or belief, our wishes are the same.  Whatever you prefer to be happy about is cool as long as you do to others as you would have them do to you. (unless you're into S&M, keep that to yourself.)


And of course, Happy Birthday, Jesus.

But, is it? Cut from all about Jesus Christ.
Was Jesus born on December 25? There is no evidence for this date. So then, who decided that Jesus' birth would be celebrated on that date? The early Christian church did not celebrate Jesus' birth. It wasn't until A.D. 440 that the church officially proclaimed December 25 as the birth of Christ. This was not based on any religious evidence but on a pagan feast. Saturnalia was a tradition inherited by the Roman pagans from an earlier Babylonian priesthood. December 25 was used as a celebration of the birthday of the sun god. It was observed near the winter solstice.

A Christmas video on page 2

Well it was 30 years ago today.

He said...
All you need is—                               He'll always live in our hearts.

John Lennon 

10/9/40 -12/8/80

Imagine.

But enough about his death... Let's celebrate his 70th birthday. (Man, we're getting old)

Happy Birthday, John.

Funny

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Gretch Who Saved the War on Christmas
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor The Daily Show on Facebook

Home for the holidays or....

Yep, another come apart...
Back in Memphis for a while and it's cold!!

When you have a minute...

Try this, it's kinda funny.

 

Not so funny....

Arrived alive.

Finally...  Friday we made it back to Stuart.
So nice to be back. It's way more crowded than when we were last here but Istaboa is comfortably in her old slip.
We had drinks with our old dock mates and watched the sunset. It was nice to catch up and hear of their travels as well as tell our own stories.
But weary from the last weeks run down the AICW, we eased back down to the boat and made a quick dinner of sauteed Andouille sausage in a basil and caper red sauce over fresh home made basil angel-hair pasta. Sounds complicated? No, the red sauce came out of a jar. The sausage was leftover from old provisions, but the pasta was from the farmers market on Amelia Island. Amola Pasta. Excellent!

Luckily the trip down was uneventful. Good weather, polite boaters we passed and who passed us, and dolphin as well as other critters along the way. We had to keep a watchful eye out for Manatees and did pass a few. They're heading south like the rest of us, in search of warmer waters, and they can be difficult to spot. Usually just a nose protruding above the surface is all you see.

Great shot, but not mine. Don't know who to give credit to.

And the Dolphin...  on page 2

Happy Thanksgiving....

We made it to Fort Pierce and Harbortown Marina.
Actually a restaurant open so maybe Thanksgiving dinner at the dock.

Funny stuff for Turkey Day:

Jon Stewart: "I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land."

More Funny Thankgiving Quotes 

Home tomorrow!

Adios,

Istaboa

Tired...

Palm Coast Monday... Daytona last night... Cocoa Beach tonight... Fort Pierce for Turkey Day...home at Stuart and Sunset Bay Friday...
Trip over till the islands.
Details later.

Adios,

Istaboa

Fun in Fernandina and rekindled relationships

Fernandina... Front and Centre

Fernandina is a beautiful little town. The locals have done an excellent job restoring and maintaining the old place. It's worth your time to click this link and read the history. The only city in America to have flown 8 flags.

But even better than hanging out in this old seaport town was meeting this little guy.

Silas Rui Taylor

Our Grandson.

Very handsome lad.

More on page 2

One night and a crew change

 Land Ho!  After 26 hours of enduring almost the whole spectrum of sea conditions, we've finally got St. Simons Sound in sight. Looks like we're going to make it in with a bit of light. That's the Sidney Lanier Bridge in the first stage of sunset.
More on page 2.

Brunswick!

Couldn't get a slip at Southport so we just kept on running and have just hit the sea buoy at Brunswick. Radar was not happy, but he will be soon.
Good run... 335 miles nonstop. A bit rough at first but flattened out after a few hours.

More later.

Adios,

Istaboa

Too lumpy to go outside...

So we stayed in the ICW and are now underway to Southport, NC.
Talked to Captain Spooner yesterday afternoon. They had taken the outside route from Morehead to Charleston and got the shit beat out of them for 28 hours.
That made the skinny, curvy little ICW seem appealing.
Last night we stayed in Swansboro, NC at Casper's Marina. Pretty short on service but clean with a decent restaurant, The Ice House, within walking distance.
Predictions for calmer seas between Cape Fear and Brunswick seem to be good so tomorrow will be the long run in the Atlantic down to at least Brunswick. If it's good maybe further. We'll see.

Adios,

Istaboa

Back online... Sporadically.

We took off at first light from AYB and made way south down the ICW. We hadn't gotten far when my phone rang, it was the Dock Master from AYB calling about our bill. Seems he thought we had done a dine and dash on him and he was pretty upset. I reminded him of our conversation the day before that I was going to leave early, so he had better get me an invoice, but he remained a bit agitated. So after exchanging a few colorful expletives, I think I got my point across.  Show me an bill, if we agree, I will pay it.
We didn't agree so the story will continue later.

We passed by Coinjock Marina and Restaurant because we needed to make as much distance as possible.
The rest on page 2.

Alligator River Marina

Not much here so I'm sure it's an early night then an early morning.

But, Radar is very happy to have grass to walk on.

Adios,


Istaboa

This is interesting...

Fake Capsizing Boat Trolls the High Seas

Artist Julien Berthier created a boat, named Love Love, that looks like it’s sinking, but actually has a motor that allows it to be driven around, fully afloat. Check out inside for a picture of the boat out of the water.

Underway finally...

Capt. Will was nice enough to quickly drop everything and fly up to Virginia to help me get the boat back south.
We left AYB this morning at first light and we're not sure where we will stop for the night.
Mel's mom continues to improve so hopefully we can pick Mel up somewhere south, soon. The boat doesn't seem right without her presence and Radar is sure not a happy pup when she's not around.

Adios,

Istaboa

Happy Birthday

Captain Spooner and Cousin Dave... 

Both good folks... must be a good day 11-11. 

Next year will be better... 11-11-11

Happy Birthday.

Crew Isaboa

Things change...

The rumors of Mel's mom's demise may have been exaggerated. Today she seems much better. Maybe the good thoughts and prayers helped.

Thanks,

Istaboa

The last few days...

So we made it down the bay in a norther with an incoming tide which makes for a lumpy boat ride. This makes the bay stack up waves high, sharp, and fast.

But with that all behind us we made it to Atlantic Yacht Basin. 

Which is a very neat old boat yard/marina. Walking around I found lots of interesting things to take photographs of. 

Tomorrow we will pull the boat out of the water to do a small repair and finish up the Navigation Systems display. 

Then... we wait to make plans.

In our last post I mentioned Mel had to fly back to Memphis to take care of personal issues. I am sorry to say that Mel's mother is very ill and it appears she will not get better. Any good thoughts or prayers for Mel's Mom, Mel, and her family would be greatly appreciated. They are a very close family and this is a painful and difficult time for them all.

More pics of AYB inside

But not for long...

After an enjoyable few days at Gloucester Point, the bar/restaurant, and saying our see-ya-laters to friends there, we threw off the lines and made way south to the ICW and Atlantic Yacht Basin.
It was a very bumpy run down the bay but didn't last long. Peter on Morewater followed us down and now we're both tied up here. Pete made dinner that night. Apple Chorizo sausage in red sauce on Pasta with an Avocado salad. Excellent.
Then.... one phone call later and everything went to shit.
Without going into the personal details... Mel made hasty arrangements to fly into Memphis to take care of a bad situation that's making our near-future plans a bit nebulous.
But... Atlantic Yacht Basin is pretty cool in it's own funky way. It's a good boat yard, so maybe Istaboa has a little work done. New monitor for the Nav system and maybe I will finally replace that backup depth transducer that's been bugging me since we bought the boat.
Also... AYB, most of you cruisers know, is just south of a lock that only opens on the hour. This means in daylight hours—when the lock opens— it's a boat parade of cruisers like us heading south. I've seen many friends and acquaintances pass by for the last few days. Other than that, Radar and I have quietly enjoyed our guy time and been taking many long walks. 
Not much entertaining to write about but I did see this on the Huffington Post this morning.

Video inside... Worth watching.

Rare Pelagic Octopus, Hawaii 

We've escaped—

—the ties that bind us and made it back to York River and Istaboa.
Kinda chilly here in Virginia but, free at last, free at last.
Gonna do a little tightening up on Istaboa, a bit of provisioning, and put together a plan for our trip back home to Stuart/Sunset Bay. Talked with Sam today and he has kindly held our slip for us. We have enjoyed the Chesapeake, but we've missed our buds in Stuart also. Hopefully good weather will hasten our trip and we'll soon be having drinks and dinner at Sailor's Return watching the sunset and feeling the warm fall breeze that Stuart enjoys this time of year.

Adios,

Istaboa

PS.... check out our friend's blog. Good pics of Halloween at Hope Town.

Just released...

Huey's new CD, Soulsville, was released today. Should be a hit. We bought it off Itunes this morning.

Very funky... Very Memphis...
and the first reviews seem to agree with us... http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2010/11/huey-lewis-and-the-news-soulsville/

A very large night...

Indeed.

Our good friends Jim and Sandy were presented with Beale Street's Walk of Fame Brass Notes by Huey Lewis and Joyce Cobb. It was a very cool night.

More inside...

It's Fall!

And it just blew into Memphis (No. 1 most dangerous city in the USA... We're number one! We're number 1!) last night, full tilt. Temps are dropping, wind's howling, and the leaves are flying.

 Happy Halloween

Crew Istaboa has a big week comin up in preparation for our run south back to Stuart, FL. Gotta get the mothers on an even keel and finish up our latest project at Rocky Point.

Also, a big celebration coming up Thursday. Our friend Jim Gaines is being presented with a Brass Note on Beale Street in recognition of his contribution to Memphis Music. Party at the Hard Rock and the Stax Museum. Should be fun. It's about time!!!
The Brass Note on Beale is a big deal. Notes already in place honor Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Justin Timberlake, Albert King, B.B. King, and Al Green just to name a few. 
Oh Yeah... Almost forgot to mention, Jim's Wife, Sandy Carroll already has a Note on Beale. It's now a family thing.


We hope to be outta here by Saturday and heading south soon after that.

Adios,


Istaboa



PS: Yes, Memphis was named No. 1 most dangerous city in the US by Forbes Magazine. Our question is; have they ever been to LA, Miami, Detroit, Chicago? Those are world class dangerous cities. Hell, even my little home town in Arkansas is scarier than Memphis.

funny

Bizarre article

 If this is real... How sad for those affected, but how weird... Click article title for link

Crocodile on plane kills 19 passengers

images from the past...

This morning, as I sip coffee, gazing out the big windows of Rocky Point, I see a herd of little deer ambling up the slope of the ravine out back, then they fade into a forest that's starting to paint the colors of Fall. It's a lovely image, and one that we always take delight in,  but at the moment, our hearts and thoughts are aboard Istaboa and in the islands.

Like the above image; this was the reality of a day we absorbed back in 08, this is a little beach on Highborne Cay, Exumas.
What a day... quiet—only the sound of the small rippling waves lapping up the shore. We had just enjoyed a little squall that cooled us off, made everything smell fresh, and the palms shine green. Warm sand under our toes as we saunter down this peaceful little strip of the island... and the birds, we reminisce,  singing happily in the rare puddles of fresh rain water—cheerfully—providing the background music for this moment. This was our last day in the Exumas.

Aaahhh......   Soon...

Escape is a theme we can't seem to shake.

and still thinkin...

Our last night on Compass Cay

We really enjoyed our nights at the Green Flash Club on Compass.

Still thinkin...

Top pic, we took from BooBoo Hill on Warderick Wells,  Exumas.Exumas Land and Sea Park.

Bottom photograph taken by a friend living in Hopetown, Bahamas... Nice shot, Glenn.

Just thinkin...

What's up?

Not much for crew Istaboa... Trying to provide liquids for the flora and fauna around Rocky Point — the Memphis area hasn't felt rain in weeks. The weather has been pleasant, but very dry.

But always on our mind:

We did drive into mid town Memphis yesterday for brunch at Bosco's. Amy Levere was performing. We had heard of Amy, but never had a good opportunity to see/hear her live. She's really very good. A video she did at Sun Studios in Memphis is inside.

 Also, inside is a fascinating tilt-shifted video. Worth taking a minute to watch.

Life for us should be more interesting soon. Feeling a Sea Cruise coming on.
Oe-ee, oo-ee baby...

Enjoy the video,

Istaboa

Soon, very soon...

Our stay in Virginia was a great one, just not long enough.
Good friends, good food, great weather finally came around, and a fun run to the eastern shore. It was a good trip.

Now we're home at Rocky Point and dealing with the things that come along with that.

But, soon... we know...  seascapes like the one above will become a common occurrence again.

Until that day comes, we dream.

Adios,

Istaboa

Walkabout Onancock...

This day was gorgeous... Perfect temp, no wind, and an absolutely beautiful place to enjoy such a day. The folks here are exceptionally friendly and it's well said in a cut from their Onancock Official website...

 All in all, Onancock is not pretend nor is it plastic. It is an authentic, living town. It invites you to visit whenever a spare minute.

More inside...

The run to Onancock

Our friend Peter and one of his oldest budds Bill, had already made plans to cruise over to the Eastern Shore and a place called Onancock. They invited us along, so we took the opportunity to do a little shake out cruise in preparation for our—upcoming—long run to Florida.

More inside...

Onancock, hopefully...

 

if the weather improves...

More later.

http://www.onancock.org/ 

Oops... wrong Url... try again.

It looks like tomorrow is a go.

Rain, rain, rain....

Seems' all of Virginia is flooding...  So today we just kicked back and did nothing but watch it rain.
In the mean time, If we're still here, we may take a run to D.C.
This should be interesting... All our Right Wings Friends will probably not see it the same way. Of course, they don't see much as we do.
That's alright... Tolerance is a good thing.


This guy cracks us up —

We've all heard of John Stewart... the guy the kids like so much... the guy that lots of folks actually watch in order to better understand what is going on in the world today...  the guy that some trust more than they do the conventional/unconventional purveyors of world news... isn't that crazy?
Not so much—
More inside...

Back at Gloucester Point

Today, we have old friends from Panama City coming by for a few days. Mike and Tracy have been to the Trawler Fest In Baltimore, so they decided that being so close, they may as well drive on down here.
The weather is not so good, but we're sure we'll find something interesting to do.

Saw this on the net today and thought it was good advice from our Uncle Sam.

Adios,


Istaboa

Surreptitiously...

We quietly—at the last minute—hopped on a plane yesterday and today we're back aboard Istaboa.
Oh happy days!
She's a bit dirty, but it looks like rain is on the way. So, nature's wash is all she'll be getting for a couple of days. Had dinner at the marina's bar last night, both the Rockfish and the company were excellent.

Before we left home, we found this little guy wandering around our back yard. We tried to ignore him for a couple of days, but he wouldn't go away. He seemed to have been orphaned and was just the friendliest little fellow.  He just wanted to play with anyone or anything he saw.
So I googled, "what to do with an orphaned squirrel", and low and behold... There are 5 squirrel rehabilitation facilities in Memphis. I called one and they agreed to come get, "Rocky", (Yes, Mel named him.) they told me to put him in a box and try to feed him. Rocky seemed to enjoy me picking him up as he ran up my arm to my shoulder and he loved the water and pecans we put in his box. Later that afternoon a young lady came by and took him to his new home.
Mel and I will miss Rocky.
Radar... not so much.

Ahhhh... it's so good to be back.

Adios,

Istaboa

Just another day on the Tenn-Tom

Yes, our beloved Tenn-Tom waterway.
One of those love/hate rivers... Love it for us inland boaters, but what a crooked, boring, yet sometimes treacherous waterway to deal with, especially in a flood.
Many of you have seen these pics; this happened in 1979, just below Demopolis, Alabama.
But, for those who haven't, this is what happens when you can't make the bridge properly, you're southbound, and the flood waters are running at about 7 knots. Unstoppable.

Check out the onlooker's hat.... Is that Bear Bryant?

More pics and the story inside