Weather Update

Armageddon averted, just cold.

Back to hiatus.

It Has Begun

Hope it doesn't last.


From the rooftop of our building.

Looking south over the Mississippi River

To the north

Guess we should have hung out a little longer in Florida.

All the way to Memphis

We left Jupiter at 4:30AM and did a non-stop drive to Memphis. 999 miles! 15 hours!
Won't do that again.

And... we arrived just in time for the most dreaded of all winter storms, an Ice Storm.
We may be on the fringe of this system and it could just be an annoyance. That's what usually happens here.

Memphis doesn't do winter storms well. The local media has a field day.





We're hoping this is just another case of media hysteria, but...

 

We shall see.

Cheers,

Istaboa

Happy Holidays...

We're taking hiatus.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Holiday Season.

Adios,




PS. I've installed a couple of wireless IP cameras so that while we're away we can keep watch on what's happening at the marina.
Dropcam.
Kinda fun if you care to look, but beware... it'll eat up some bandwidth.

Normality

A repost from our old blog, August, 2007. 
We'd just returned from a run to the islands and were adjusting to life after the loss of our sweet old Lab, Sadie, and life away from Istaboa after 7 months aboard.
For those who don't know, Rocky Point was our home for almost 20 years. Lot's of good things happened there; not many bad.
I like this old post.
Normality
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I seem to be quoting Mark Twain a lot these days. I kinda relate to the iconoclastic old southern riverboat captain... He grew up on the river not far from Memphis; he was a boat pilot like my Pop, he also loved hoppin' on a boat and traveling to his favorite places. He once wrote in a letter to a friend, "There is no unhappiness like the misery of sighting land (and work) again after a cheerful, careless voyage." and God knows we felt that way leaving the islands and returning home.
But... home is our favorite place to come home to and work provides us with the most excellent justification to escape to that cheerful, careless voyage - again.

Things are getting back to normal for us here at Rocky Point. We're both back in the gym trying to sweat off some of that island fun we consumed while enjoying the Abacos. Kind of a do it yourself rehab. Work is good. It's nice to be back in the saddle and fighting the good fight. (Creating that most excellent justification)

The pain from losing Sadie is getting better and slowly turning into an itch to find a new pup. We're trying to resist, but we're not sure if Radar will let us. He's been awfully lonesome.

It's been incredibly hot and dry around Memphis. 100+ degrees for a couple of weeks now. We put out water for the critters in the woods - they truly seem to appreciate it.
The deer have become fairly comfortable with us. They're cautious, but they don't mind us getting close... just not too close.

We posted earlier about the doe that didn't want to leave Rocky Point. Now we see why. This is her fawn.
We see Lucy (Yeah... Mel named her.) every evening when she brings her fawn by for a drink and a nibble of the freshly watered green grass in our backyard.
Radar is our deer alarm... as soon as he spots them he gives a throaty little growl to alert us of their presence.
It's fun watching the little one grow up.
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Those were the good old days... these will be too — someday.

Adios,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

Not mine, but a beautiful shot and processed nicely.

So that's what happened

Old, but always funny.

Today's Pic

A buddy from Newport, RI sent me a link to this photograph and a newsletter.

Watching the America's Cup Race. Mrs. Kennedy, President Kennedy, others. Off Newport, RI, aboard the USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., 09/15/1962  

 

  RIyachting.com

Today's Pic

Sunset over the Sassafras

Today's Pic

Early morn sun lit the fall color along the Tennessee River. circa 2006

While we kept Istaboa on the Tennessee, we always enjoyed the fall and winter on the river. If we were lucky enough to be cruising at the right time, the colors were spectacular, but only for about 3 or 4 days then they would start to fade and as quickly they had appeared... they were gone.

The winter would turn everything gray, like cruising in monotone. The naked trees exposed the many eagles who could no longer be hidden by the forest that lined the shores. We were always amazed at how many there were. Watching them fish was like performance art.

I think winter was our favorite time to cruise there, we pretty much had the river to ourselves. The whole world outside of our warm and cozy pilothouse was like a huge black and white panorama that slid by silently, always refreshing itself, never the same.

Even better when it snowed.

I look forward to the day we cruise the river again.

Thanks for checkin' on us.

Happy Friday.

Cheers,

Istaboa