Took the day off and went to see some old friends. Just like in this song, it is good for the soul. Stopped in at the old workplace and saw some folks. Had a coffee. Shot the shit etc. Going to have to do that again soon! :-)So with lots of time on my …
Delicious Fresh Peach Cobbler Breakfast Recipe
Now that peach season is here it’s time to make this wonderful breakfast recipe with fresh Ontario peaches. Just make the breakfast casserole the night before and simply pop it into the oven in the morning and voila a delicious breakfast or brunch. Peach … Continue reading →
Revisiting Old Places…
Great Loop II Date: 8/4/2014Day #5 (Monday): 108.4 total miles (73.9 miles)Port #2: Keans Marina, Detroit, MIMonday morning we were up before sunrise and on our way to Anchors Away Marina to meet Clay. Clay started working on the generator around…
Old Lock #1 to the Mighty Mississippi
Hi again,
Our run from Old Lock #1 to our rendezvous with SEA DREAM in Aqua Harbor was uneventful, save for one small violation of Fred’s rule #3. ** In case you’ve forgotten, or didn’t know them, here are:
Fred’s ‘Rules for a good day of boating’
#1 Nobody gets hurt.
#2 Don’t hit other boats.
#3 Always reach a safe harbor before dark. **
#4 No matter what happens, DON’T yell at the crew!
(#4 is, of course, my personal favorite!)
We hit a lock delay—inevitable in river cruising, and were mildly frustrated by the lockmaster, who had a penchant for chatting. We wanted to just get moving, as the sun was down and twilight fading fast. Fade it did, and we had 5 dark miles to go to our anchorage. Attempted to slide into an inlet at 3 miles and ran hard aground. Water went from 15’ to 0 in a heartbeat! Fred was able to back us off (a week later the boat was hauled to tighten the propeller nuts that probably got jarred loose) and we gingerly, but safely, entered and anchored in Sumter Landing. We hate when that happens, and it’s a case of ‘the best laid plans’……..(Actually, we’ve been there before, and the light is always on at the Lodge, so it wasn’t a really big deal, but it was a ‘happen’…)
Mike and Linda met us at Aqua Harbor, and we spent a couple of days there before heading north.
I wasn’t much company, as I spent most of the days tucked away in a conference room working on the exam for a celestial navigation course. (Completed it and sent it off for grading on July 29th.)
Green Turtle Bay Marina in Grand Rivers, KY again gets kudos! This was our launching spot for the run up the MS. There was plenty to do during the week we spent there—the marina has a spa and yacht club dining room, and of course we had to shop, provision, and get the boat and the crew is shape for traveling, bur mostly we were waiting for the River to drop and slow!
Getting ready to travel meant getting Fred’s back squared away. We found the Orthopedic Institute of Western Kentucky in Paducah, and can’t say enough good things about them. The first floor of their huge building is devoted to Urgent Care (Ortho only, please) and Physical Therapy. Looks like about an acre of machines, with a steady flow of folks moving through their paces under the watchful eyes of lots of Therapists.
Fred was seen (as soon as he completed the inevitable ream of paper work) by, among others, Ben, a very pleasant and competent Orthopedic Physician’s Assistant. In the blink of an eye, X-Rays of Fred’s thoracic spine were read, and within an hour we were at a local hospital for an MRI. Ben phoned us (we weren’t even back to the Marina yet—can you believe it?) to say that there is a fracture in T-11! Fred’s been walking around—slowly and with great pain—with a fractured vertabra! Put more simply, he has a broken back. A brace was ordered over the weekend, and on Monday morning we were back to pick it up.
Getting ready to travel meant getting Fred’s back squared away. We found the Orthopedic Institute of Western Kentucky in Paducah, and can’t say enough good things about them. The first floor of their huge building is devoted to Urgent Care (Ortho only, please) and Physical Therapy. Looks like about an acre of machines, with a steady flow of folks moving through their paces under the watchful eyes of lots of Therapists.
Fred was seen (as soon as he completed the inevitable ream of paper work) by, among others, Ben, a very pleasant and competent Orthopedic Physician’s Assistant. In the blink of an eye, X-Rays of Fred’s thoracic spine were read, and within an hour we were at a local hospital for an MRI. Ben phoned us (we weren’t even back to the Marina yet—can you believe it?) to say that there is a fracture in T-11! Fred’s been walking around—slowly and with great pain—with a fractured vertabra! Put more simply, he has a broken back. A brace was ordered over the weekend, and on Monday morning we were back to pick it up.
What a difference it has made! Within a day there was a noticeable improvement in the level of pain, and by Friday he could lie down and get up again without so much as a wince! Add in the PT exercises he was given and you have one super therapeutic operation! The cause of the fracture is said to be compression from Fred’s developing a ‘kyphotic’ (think question mark shaped back) curve–probably from the gazillion hours he spends hunched over his computer or the wheel of the boat. Make that he used to hunch. Now he leans in from the hip. We will continue to follow up to be assured that all is well.
Rave reviews for the Ortho Institute. Another of the worker-bees, Tripp, kindly printed out directions to the hospital, and thence to the Pharmacy, and as a bonus gave us a flier inviting us to the Fall Celebration in late September in Paducah!
So we are good to go!
The Mississippi flooding has continued well past spring this year, and the River is barely back in its banks in many places. River levels came down a foot a day (confirmed by Joe and Punk aboard CAROLYN ANN just above St. Louis) and by Thursday, July 31 we were as ready as we were likely to get, and tossed the lines. Had an oops as we were underway—-I left my iPad in the Courtesy car the marina provides (and a fine Dodge van it is!!!)
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| Harbormaster Bill and his faithful pup “Pistol” |
Bless his heart, HarborMaster Bill drove the iPad to Paducah (1/2 hour by car) and bless HIS heart, Mike took me for a dinghy ride to the boat ramp to retrieve it! Good people going above and beyond!
A brief reminder about the Upper Mississippi. Green Turtle Bay is on The Cumberland River, and we cruised down to the Ohio, and thence to where the Tennessee River empties into the Ohio, where we anchored to meet Bill in Paducah. Next morning we headed down the O-HI-O, through Lock #52 and over Lock #53. Last year’s blog talks about these outdated locks and the expensive, stalled construction of the ‘new improved’ Olmstead lock on the Ohio. Nothing much has changed…
 |
| We are told that cement blocks are going in to form the dam. |
At Cairo, IL the Mississippi divides into the ‘Upper’—-875 miles north to Minneapolis—and the ‘Lower’—-950 miles south to New Orleans. We very carefully turned to the right to enter the 200 miles of open water (no locks or dams) that stretches to St. Louis.
Most people going to Minneapolis by boat enter the River above St. Louis, from the Illinois River. CAROLYN ANN is there, having come from the Carolinas and through the Great Lakes to the Illinois River. We didn’t have that option unless we went all the way around Florida and up the East Coast, so it’s back to the ‘Goofy 200’, as we have fondly named it.
We made the turn carefully as the current in the Ohio was pushing us to 10.5 miles an hour! 90 degrees to the right later, we’d slowed to 3.8 miles an hour and that has been the story of this trip.
On Friday, the 1st of August, we travelled from 6 a.m. to 6:15 p.m., anchored at mile 29.2 (almost 30 River miles from Cairo—-probably 8 miles due west of Cairo). The River doubles back on itself (oxbows) and did its very best to keep us from making headway.
 |
| Little green frog attempted to stowaway. He went swimming instead. |
Saturday we again were off by 6 a.m. Around 3 in the afternoon we started looking at possible anchorages suggested by the guide books and Active Captain. Too much current here, too little room to swing there, and it took until 6:10 to find a spot where Mike and Linda could safely put down their anchor (mile 77.5—the Cottonwood Bar), and we rafted to their port side. We were out of the channel where the big guys—-towboats pushing anywhere from 6-36 barges—-travel and all was well.
 |
| The looooooong lock wall at theKaskaskia River. |
The next day, we actually got up to 6.5 mph for 2.5 minutes! Averaged 4 miles/hour from 6 a.m. to 2:35 p.m., when we tied up to the newly re-done long lock wall on the Kaskaskia River, Mile 117.5. Fred and I have been there 3 times before, and it has been different each time we stop. When the sun gets lower and it cools a bit (87 degrees out there now) we can go for a walk before we sleep.
Monday morning the fog rolled in, and it was 8 a.m. before we left the Lock wall. The current is slowing a bit, and we’re actually averaging about 5+ miles per hour. If I seem to go on and on about the boat speed, it is because, well, 4 miles an hour is really, really slow!
The ‘goofy 200’ is just goofy, that is all there is to be said. As we near St. Louis the industry picks up—both sides of the River have quarries, staging areas for the many barges that we see hauling ‘stuff’, shipyards, scrap yards, construction companies, power plants etc.etc.etc. Fred has his binoculars at the ready and is loving watching the machines! And it is good to see the output of product in America, vs the output of intangibles in our service economy.
Enough. On to the post, the photos, and the rest of the day. Hope yours has been delightful.
Be well, and do remember to breathe!
It’s a Regatta Kind of Day….
Great Loop II Date: 7/31/2014
Day #1 (Thursday): 20 total miles (20 miles)
Port #1: Put In Bay, South Bass Island, Ohio
Todd bought a new Magma Grill Wednesday afternoon and intended to install it on the bar in our bridge while I went for my last groceries. When I came back the grill was in the box and Clay was set up to come Thursday morning. The bolts were set such that the bar refrigerator would need to be removed. Once the bolts were in, the heads had to be sawed off to accommodate the drip pan. Preparing for this trip has sure had its moments!
Our plan was to go to Put In Bay again to make sure all the updated systems were in working order. We arrived during the beginning of the annual PIB ILYA Sailboat Regatta.
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| Leaving Bay Point Marina |
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| Passing the ongoing housing development at Bay Point (View from Lake Erie) |
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| Captain maintaining his station |
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| Sailboats racing Thursday afternoon |
None of the moorings were marked for the sailboats and we had our pick. We grabbed I-2 which put us nearest the WiFi offered by Boardwalk Harbor. We don’t have our old WiFi set up this time (an antenna attached to a signal booster/router and our old Verison 3G card). We will use WiFi offered by marinas and our own Verison 4G MiFi when necessary.
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| Perry’s Monument |
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| Sunset in the Boardwalk Mooring Field |
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| Cantankerus going for another load of fuel for the island |
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| OB on her mooring |
Each morning the call for the races occurred between 7AM and 8AM. The cluster of sailboats taking up all the dockage at the City Docks and a few slips at the marinas would scamper to attention and march to sites outside of the Bay to race. Saturday morning, we awoke to thunder and dark skies to the south and west. The sailors all scampered out to the race call…even amidst the impending electrical storm. About halfway through the race, during the storm’s full fury, the sailors came back in. Some were able to dock successfully, while others had to ride out the storm keeping their bows to the weather and their engines running high enough to stay in one spot.
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| The approaching storm Saturday morning |
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| Sailboat racer riding out the storm |
All our systems seemed to be working well until our generator overheated and shut down. Trouble shooting pointed to two possibilities: sea grass could be clogging the sea strainer intake or the hose could be degenerating. Todd cleaned the strainer to find very little grass. Sunday morning he dove below the boat and found some grass clogging the exterior of the intake. Even after clearing that, the water still did not flow into the strainer or into the generator. Todd contacted Rory, the manager of our maintenance team. He told us to take the boat out, put it on plane and open the sea strainer canister. That should work to suck out any clog in the line. We tried that maneuver with no change. Rory scheduled Clay to meet us at Anchors Away on Monday morning to diagnose and rectify the problem.
Sunday night was a beautiful evening. Even with our ongoing setbacks, it was a good time to take a spot up on the bridge, enjoy a pizza from Cameo and a beer. We watched all of the day boaters and late checkout weekenders leave the Bay one by one. It made us thankful the work life is behind us and adventure we create is ahead.
Old Lock #1 to the Mighty Mississippi
Hi again,
Our run from Old Lock #1 to our rendezvous with SEA DREAM in Aqua Harbor was uneventful, save for one small violation of Fred’s rule #3. ** In case you’ve forgotten, or didn’t know them, here are:
Fred’s ‘Rules for a good day of boating’
#1 Nobody gets hurt.
#2 Don’t hit other boats.
#3 Always reach a safe harbor before dark. **
#4 No matter what happens, DON’T yell at the crew!
(#4 is, of course, my personal favorite!)
We hit a lock delay—inevitable in river cruising, and were mildly frustrated by the lockmaster, who had a penchant for chatting. We wanted to just get moving, as the sun was down and twilight fading fast. Fade it did, and we had 5 dark miles to go to our anchorage. Attempted to slide into an inlet at 3 miles and ran hard aground. Water went from 15’ to 0 in a heartbeat! Fred was able to back us off (a week later the boat was hauled to tighten the propeller nuts that probably got jarred loose) and we gingerly, but safely, entered and anchored in Sumter Landing. We hate when that happens, and it’s a case of ‘the best laid plans’……..(Actually, we’ve been there before, and the light is always on at the Lodge, so it wasn’t a really big deal, but it was a ‘happen’…)
Mike and Linda met us at Aqua Harbor, and we spent a couple of days there before heading north.
I wasn’t much company, as I spent most of the days tucked away in a conference room working on the exam for a celestial navigation course. (Completed it and sent it off for grading on July 29th.)
Green Turtle Bay Marina in Grand Rivers, KY again gets kudos! This was our launching spot for the run up the MS. There was plenty to do during the week we spent there—the marina has a spa and yacht club dining room, and of course we had to shop, provision, and get the boat and the crew is shape for traveling, bur mostly we were waiting for the River to drop and slow!
Getting ready to travel meant getting Fred’s back squared away. We found the Orthopedic Specialists of Western Kentucky in Paducah, and can’t say enough good things about them. The first floor of their huge building is devoted to Urgent Care (Ortho only, please) and Physical Therapy. Looks like about an acre of machines, with a steady flow of folks moving through their paces under the watchful eyes of lots of Therapists.
Fred was seen (as soon as he completed theinevitable ream of paper work) by, among others, Ben, a very pleasant and competent Orthopedic Physician’s Assistant. In the blink of an eye, X-Rays of Fred’s thoracic spine were read, and within an hour we were at a local hospital for an MRI. Ben phoned us (we weren’t even back to the Marina yet—can you believe it?) to say that there is a fracture in T-10! Fred’s been walking around—slowly and with great pain—with a fractured vertabra! Put more simply, he has a broken back. A brace was ordered over the weekend, and on Monday morning we were back to pick it up.
Getting ready to travel meant getting Fred’s back squared away. We found the Orthopedic Specialists of Western Kentucky in Paducah, and can’t say enough good things about them. The first floor of their huge building is devoted to Urgent Care (Ortho only, please) and Physical Therapy. Looks like about an acre of machines, with a steady flow of folks moving through their paces under the watchful eyes of lots of Therapists.
Fred was seen (as soon as he completed theinevitable ream of paper work) by, among others, Ben, a very pleasant and competent Orthopedic Physician’s Assistant. In the blink of an eye, X-Rays of Fred’s thoracic spine were read, and within an hour we were at a local hospital for an MRI. Ben phoned us (we weren’t even back to the Marina yet—can you believe it?) to say that there is a fracture in T-10! Fred’s been walking around—slowly and with great pain—with a fractured vertabra! Put more simply, he has a broken back. A brace was ordered over the weekend, and on Monday morning we were back to pick it up.
What a difference it has made! Within a day there was a noticeable improvement in the level of pain, and by Friday he could lie down and get up again without so much as a wince! Add in the PT exercises he was given and you have one super therapeutic operation! The cause of the fracture is said to be compression from Fred’s developing a ‘kyphotic’ (think question mark shaped back) curve–probably from the gazillion hours he spends hunched over his computer or the wheel of the boat. Make that he used to hunch. Now he leans in from the hip. We will continue to follow up to be assured that all is well.
Rave reviews for Ortho Specialists. Another of the worker-bees, Tripp, kindly printed out directions to the hospital, and thence to the Pharmacy, and as a bonus gave us a flier inviting us to the Fall Celebration in late September in Paducah!
So we are good to go!
The Mississippi flooding has continued well past spring this year, and the River is barely back in its banks in many places. River levels came down a foot a day (confirmed by Joe and Punk aboard CAROLYN ANN just above St. Louis) and by Thursday, July 31 we were as ready as we were likely to get, and tossed the lines. Had an oops as we were underway—-I left my iPad in the Courtesy car the marina provides (and a fine Dodge van it is!!!)
|
| Harbormaster Bill and his faithful pup “Pistol” |
Bless his heart, HarborMaster Bill drove the iPad to Paducah (1/2 hour by car) and bless HIS heart, Mike took me for a dinghy ride to the boat ramp to retrieve it! Good people going above and beyond!
A brief reminder about the Upper Mississippi. Green Turtle Bay is on The Cumberland River, and we cruised down to the Ohio, and thence to where the Tennessee River empties into the Ohio, where we anchored to meet Bill in Paducah. Next morning we headed down the O-HI-O, through Lock #52 and over Lock #53. Last year’s blog talks about these outdated locks and the expensive, stalled construction of the ‘new improved’ Olmstead lock on the Ohio. Nothing much has changed…
|
| We are told that cement blocks are going in to form the dam. |
At Cairo, IL the Mississippi divides into the ‘Upper’—-875 miles north to Minneapolis—and the ‘Lower’—-950 miles south to New Orleans. We very carefully turned to the right to enter the 200 miles of open water (no locks or dams) that stretches to St. Louis.
Most people going to Minneapolis by boat enter the River above St. Louis, from the Illinois River. CAROLYN ANN is there, having come from the Carolinas and through the Great Lakes to the Illinois River. We didn’t have that option unless we went all the way around Florida and up the East Coast, so it’s back to the ‘Goofy 200’, as we have fondly named it.
We made the turn carefully as the current in the Ohio was pushing us to 10.5 miles an hour! 90 degrees to the right later, we’d slowed to 3.8 miles an hour and that has been the story of this trip.
On Friday, the 1st of August, we travelled from 6 a.m. to 6:15 p.m., anchored at mile 29.2 (almost 30 River miles from Cairo—-probably 8 miles due west of Cairo). The River doubles back on itself (oxbows) and did its very best to keep us from making headway.
|
| Little green frog attempted to stowaway. He went swimming instead. |
Saturday we again were off by 6 a.m. Around 3 in the afternoon we started looking at possible anchorages suggested by the guide books and Active Captain. Too much current here, too little room to swing there, and it took until 6:10 to find a spot where Mike and Linda could safely put down their anchor (mile 77.5—the Cottonwood Bar), and we rafted to their port side. We were out of the channel where the big guys—-towboats pushing anywhere from 6-36 barges—-travel and all was well.
|
| The looooooong lock wall at theKaskaskia River. |
The next day, we actually got up to 6.5 mph for 2.5 minutes! Averaged 4 miles/hour from 6 a.m. to 2:35 p.m., when we tied up to the newly re-done long lock wall on the Kaskaskia River, Mile 117.5. Fred and I have been there 3 times before, and it has been different each time we stop. When the sun gets lower and it cools a bit (87 degrees out there now) we can go for a walk before we sleep.
Monday morning the fog rolled in, and it was 8 a.m. before we left the Lock wall. The current is slowing a bit, and we’re actually averaging about 5+ miles per hour. If I seem to go on and on about the boat speed, it is because, well, 4 miles an hour is really, really slow!
The ‘goofy 200’ is just goofy, that is all there is to be said. As we near St. Louis the industry picks up—both sides of the River have quarries, staging areas for the many barges that we see hauling ‘stuff’, shipyards, scrap yards, construction companies, power plants etc.etc.etc. Fred has his binoculars at the ready and is loving watching the machines! And it is good to see the output of product in America, vs the output of intangibles in our service economy.
Enough. On to the post, the photos, and the rest of the day. Hope yours has been delightful.
Be well, and do remember to breathe!
Day 206…Jellyfish
Welcome to day 206 of 365 photos…I saw the jellyfish today at the North Carolina Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores. They were beautifully lit and floating gracefully among the bubbles – I just had to get a photo. Do you know that jellyfish are called “jellies” these days because they are not technically a fish.… Continue Reading
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Just a lil’ bit more
That’s it. Hull is primed. Two coats on absolutely everything plus an extra coat on the transom and bow. I’m done with primer. Terribly messy stuff to work with. I was sort of hoping the paint sprayer would eliminate a lot of the work but that didn’t w…
JOHN, ALICE AND LILY ARRIVE IN SICILY
With the imminent arrival of our son John, daughter in law Alice and grand daughter Lily into Palermo, we moved to Trapani harbour, about 50 km from Palermo airport.
We were about one mile out from our Favignana anchorage on our way to Trapani when we noticed our RHIB was no longer behind us – I had improperly secured it, so couldn’t blame Di! We turned around and went back to the anchorage, where the RHIB was now close to rocks ashore, so I brought Envoy in as close as I could and Di leaped into the water, and swam about 40 metres to the RHIB. The plan was for Di to climb aboard, start the engine and bring the RHIB back to Envoy, but Di had forgotten where the outboard’s power tilt button was so couldn’t start it. I could see that Di was having problems and had got back in the water to hold the RHIB away from the rocks, so I anchored Envoy close-by, swam to assist her and all was OK. But there’s a lesson here – it’s nearly always me, the skipper who drives the RHIB, but it should be your crew so they are familiar with it. I’ve also thought about whether I should have asked Di to wear a lifejacket. I think the answer is no, because the swimming distance was short, conditions were reasonable, it was close to shore, and a lifejacket would have made swimming much more difficult..JPG)
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We were about one mile out from our Favignana anchorage on our way to Trapani when we noticed our RHIB was no longer behind us – I had improperly secured it, so couldn’t blame Di! We turned around and went back to the anchorage, where the RHIB was now close to rocks ashore, so I brought Envoy in as close as I could and Di leaped into the water, and swam about 40 metres to the RHIB. The plan was for Di to climb aboard, start the engine and bring the RHIB back to Envoy, but Di had forgotten where the outboard’s power tilt button was so couldn’t start it. I could see that Di was having problems and had got back in the water to hold the RHIB away from the rocks, so I anchored Envoy close-by, swam to assist her and all was OK. But there’s a lesson here – it’s nearly always me, the skipper who drives the RHIB, but it should be your crew so they are familiar with it. I’ve also thought about whether I should have asked Di to wear a lifejacket. I think the answer is no, because the swimming distance was short, conditions were reasonable, it was close to shore, and a lifejacket would have made swimming much more difficult.
Trapani is an interesting town based around an ancient large well-sheltered harbour where Peter of Aragon landed in 1282 to begin the Spanish occupation of Sicily. Trapani has an interesting well-preserved “old town” full of cobbled alleyways, churches, former palazzos (palaces), restaurants, tavernas and quirky shops.
Statue of Neptune in Trapani
View down Vittorio Emanuele, one of the old town’s main streets
A Trapani wine shop where you can taste first and buy cheaply in bulk
Delicious selection of Sicilian pastries including our favourite cannole (bottom left) – fried pastry filled with sweetened ricotta cheese
Berthing alongside a jetty in a Trapani shipyard cost 40 Euros (NZ$63) per night including power and water. Our location was anything but picturesque, surrounded by large vessels in various states of disrepair, but it was sheltered, safe, cheap and suited our needs.
Envoy moored in lifting berth in Trapani harbour
Impressive view of hydrofoil below water. She was out for repairs
On Monte San Giuliano (St Julian) 756 metres above Trapani is the fabulous medieval walled village of Erice, accessed by cable cars that provide fabulous vista for miles of surrounding area. Baby Lily was agape as she waved at the cable cars whizzing over our heads at the lower terminus.
Alice and John take in the view during cable car ride
Diane and the great view from the mountain-top village of Erice
The Norman castle, about 1,000 years old is still in good shape
Erice street musician with gaily painted donkey-drawn cart
Close-up of historical scene paintings on cart
Erice is famous for the mysterious ancient Cult of Venus – in the Temple of Venus acolytes (assistants to the priestesses) participated in sacred prostitution. Lonely Planet says it’s easy to guess why the site remained inviolate through countless invasions, until the Normans built the Castello di Venere on the site of the temple.
Ceramics shop on cobbled lane in Erice
Prior to leaving Trapani we needed to get our Constituto stamped by Coastguard so John and I went down to see them. Normally we find Coastguard staff to be civil and bordering on friendly, but these were a strange lot – it seems that a snarl on your face is a job pre-requisite, but after a long wait and none-too-friendly service we finally got the stamp we needed.
Back at the Egadi Islands we all had some family catching-up and relaxation time – swimming, walking, having coffees and beers ashore and generally chilling out. 11 month-old grand daughter Lily took to the water like a duck, and Diane and I loved looking after her, giving John and Alice some time out.
John, Lily and Alice enjoy a refreshing swim
Lily enjoying swim Favignana’s tepid waters in her new lifejacket with John
For a time one issue at the Egadis was a small jellyfish, called Pelagia, that give a nasty sting, feeling like a minor electric shock. Di had a brush with one that left nasty welts and still hadn’t healed over two weeks later.
Pelagia jellyfish
The jellyfish scars on Di’s upper arm was still there three weeks later
I got stung twice, and John once, and although the marks took some time to go they weren’t anywhere near as sore as Di’s. From then on wherever we swam we kept a sharp lookout for them, particularly with Lily in the water. At least there are no wasps – a curse last year in Croatia, and very few flies or mosquitoes.
Our plan was to head towards Palermo and then out to the Aeolian Islands, north of Sicily, so we cruised back towards Sicily in a rising WNW wind exceeding forecast, reaching 20 knots. The long fetch here caused waves up to three metres high on our port quarter with some cresting and breaking, making for an uncomfortable trip and poor Lily was seasick, although fine after that. Anchored outside Capo San Vito marina that night was quite rolly from the unsettled seas, even with our flopper stoppers down, but by next morning when we set off for Castellamare del Golfo the wind and seas had dropped considerably.
TECHNICAL The guest head holding tank contents full light isn’t working – another job for electrician Doug.
ENVOY LOG As at 10/7/14, we’d spent 93 days aboard and cruised 757 miles for 128 engine hours.
Day 205…Just before dark…
Welcome to day 205 of 365 photos…just before dark tonight, we had a BEAUTIFUL sunset. This sunset was unexpected. I took this photo standing outside our home looking over the neighborhood. After three days of rain, I am hoping that the old saying “Red sky at night, sailors delight” is going to be true. The… Continue Reading
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