It’s Thursday morning and Brenda and I are here in Lisbon where we will be exploring Portugal for the next month.  For now you will have indulge me with a smattering of nautical posts but mostly writing about this trip.  I hope it’s fun for you as I am pretty confident that it will be fun for us.  Who knows, perhaps Pandora will be here in a few years.

Anyway, enough dreaming for now.  Back to here and now.  

When we flew over here yesterday I have to say that I discovered that I am not quite the world traveler that some of my friends are.  Actually, perhaps I am a really good traveler as it seems that I didn’t want to miss a single minute on the 300 hour flight so I stayed awake the ENTIRE TIME…

As you can imagine, I was POOPED when we got to our apartment in the old quarter, perhaps one of many old quarters in Lisbon, here yesterday. We had big ideas of taking a nap and then going out to eat a fashionably late dinner.  HA!

Yes, Brenda took a nap but I wasn’t quite ready to sleep so I did a bit of exploring of the neighborhood.  Actually, I went out looking for wine and cheese.  Success! And, imagine this, each of the shopkeepers spoke English.  That’s good.  Can you say “local wine” in Portuguese?  I can’t.

Next step, wake Brenda up from her nap and have some wine and cheese as an appetizer.  Now wait, after NO SLEEP for the last 24 hours…   Here’s an idea…  Let’s call wine and cheese dinner and then SLEEEEP…

Well, now it’s 08:00 and the sun is up with broken clouds and it’s a beautiful day!

Today?  Well, I don’t know as Brenda’s in charge and she’s still in the shower.  I don’t know what her plans are except that we will be here in Lisbon in this apartment for about 4 days and then we will take a train to well, somewhere else.

For now, perhaps I’ll put a few photos of our “neighborhood” here.  What a beautiful place.  The airport is very modern but oddly, the signs are all in Portuguese.  I thought that everyone put signs up in English and Spanish, just like in the US.  Well, you learn something new every day.  Here, the signs are first in Portuguese and THEN in English.

Our apartment is a very cute little, with the emphasis on LITTLE, efficiency apartment.  Well, it’s so efficient that you have to walk out into the kitchen to make it from one side of the bed to the other.  I will say that in spite of the fact that the buildings in the neighborhood are hundreds of years old, the inside of the apartment is very modern and quite European chic.  Little, but chic.

Here’s a view of the front of our apartment from out on the patio, yes the patio…  Very nice.The patio also has a view of a beautiful cathedral nearby.  It’s absolutely enormous.  Notice the wine and cheese in the foreground.  No, make that our dinner!  Remember, tired…?The streets are impossibly narrow.  This is a view of the end of the street leading to the two stories of steps up to our apartment.  I wonder how you reserve a parking spot?  Answer…You don’t!The buildings and the nearby streets are very beautiful and really steep.  Ever heard of Portuguese masons?  I hadn’t thought about it but I guess that they are pretty good at what they do.  Some of the buildings are completely faced with glazed tiles.  Amazing. As I write this I am sitting at a little table here on the patio and about the only sound I hear is the conversation of others in their apartments surrounding the courtyard and the fluttering of flocks of pigeons flying from terracotta rooftop to rooftop.  Don’t worry about me eavesdropping as my hearing is terrible and I DON’T SPEAK PORTUGUESE.  Very peaceful.  

However, enough of peaceful, I WANT BREAKFAST.  What do the Portuguese eat for breakfast? I believe that coffee is part of that.  Yes, a cup of coffee will set the day straight.

More to come…

It’s Tuesday evening and we are sitting in the airport in Providence waiting for our connection to Newark for a flight to Portugal where we will be traveling until mid November.

We had decided to take an extended trip to Europe and after much discussion, we settled on Portugal.   A key consideration was that the country had to be far enough south so that we wouldn’t freeze at this time of year and we also thought it would be fun to see a country with such a strong nautical heritage.  Of course, being away for a month meant that we also had to pick a country that wasn’t going to be too pricey.  Let’s hope that we won’t be reduced to sleeping in a rental car for the last week.

Actually, that’s not too likely given the fact that I’d be putting my relationship with Brenda at risk by pulling such a stunt.   And, as luck would have it, Portugal has a “textile rich” history as well. I hope that my luggage is large enough for her “haul”  If you weren’t aware, Brenda has a “linen problem”.  Could be worse as most linens aren’t too big.  “Here Brenda, look at these lovely hankies!”

All kidding aside, we are very excited about going and I expect going to a “nautical country” will offer up some great blog ideas.  However, you will have to forgive me if I stray from “all things nautical” a bit for the next month as I am sure that some landlocked spots will be worth writing about. It is smart to check  out Manassas, VA weather conditions before visiting, as per the kind of activities you plan on doing.

I am told that one terrific museum is Museu de Marinha, which I think is the national maritime museum of Portugal.  However, I can’t be sure about that as WE DON’T SPEAK PORTUGUESE.   However, we have heard that anyone under the age of 18 speaks English.  Let’s hope so.

Anyway, even if we can’t read the plaques in the museum, we can still say “wow, nice boat” and mean it, in Portuguese or not.

Brenda, admittedly not as excited about the marine museums as yours truly, is excited about the fact that there is a strong, and ancient fiber culture there as well.

Not sure where we will be going but this shot, from the web, suggests that there are some nice small craft.    Yes, it’s a shrimpy picture but I should be able to get some good ones when we get there in person.  So, that’s what’s up and we’ll be coming home in about a month.

On the home front, Pandora’s in St Mary’s GA now and even though I spent plenty of time and money on her this summer, there continues to be a to-do list of pending items.  A bit of work on the new autoprop as one of the blades seems to be a bit tight on it’s swivel.

I was also distressed to learn that my autopilot computer, the spare one that I sent for repair a while back, can’t be fixed so I will have to purchase a new one. Now, that’s going to be painful.  Oh yeah, the wind direction instrument is also acting funny in a not-funny-at-all sort of way.

I should have ordered them before I left with the hope that I’d get a “boat show discount” but I didn’t get to it.  Perhaps as I struggle to adjust to the time change in Portugal, I can order them.

Well, that’s about all I have to report for now. Perhaps I’ll close with a seasonal shot of Pandora taken a few years ago in Annapolis at the height of the fall color.  Quite lovely.  Seeing this shot reminds me that my yard will be knee deep in leaves when we return.  Did I mention that we have a LARGE yard.  Ugg…

I hope that a month of traveling will give me time to build my strength.

 

It’s Saturday morning and I am mostly, no make that somewhat,  dug out from under the bills and correspondence that piled up at home while I was away delivering Pandora to GA.  It’s amazing how quickly things get out of control.  If you missed it, Pandora’s in GA so that Brenda and I can join her somewhere sort of warm in January when we head down to spend the winter aboard.

The 800 mile trip from Essex to St Mary’s was uneventful but it was a bit of a bummer that 600 miles of the run was under power.  Oh well, after two north-bound runs under sail and one southbound sailing run, I guess I was about due for a motorboat trip.   Well, at least I know that I like my new Autoprop (propeller).

It’s safe to say that the highlight of the run was when we were visited by a pod of dolphins that swam with us for quite a while. Yes, we see dolphins regularly when making the long ocean runs in the spring and fall.  However, this was a particularly great experience as the water was just so still; more like a run on Long Island Sound in August, than time in the ocean.  I understand that dolphins are quite intelligent and to watch them play under our bow that they were having a fun time, if not a full blown “play date” with Pandora.  I sure was enjoying watching them, that’s for sure.

This video is perhaps a bit longer than you’d like but I have shown it to a number of folks that suggested I post it in it’s uncut length of about 15 minutes.   Actually, well to me at least, it gets more interesting the further you get into it.
Let me know what you think.

Anyway, I had better get going as I am going to see my mother today for a visit and had better get going.  I hope she enjoys it as well.

 

It’s Wednesday afternoon and I am cooling my heels at the Jacksonville airport, waiting for my 6:00 flight tonight.   I have hours to wait as my crew Jim had a flight at 2:00 and I had to get there in time for his flight.  Actually, it was plenty hot in St Mary’s today, up in the 90s, and it always seems to be hotter in boat yards than just about anywhere else, in my experience.  Here in the airport, nice and cool.  Such are life’s simple pleasures.

While I am not happy to be away from Pandora for the next three months, I am anxious to be home and to see Brenda again.  Besides, in less than a week, we are heading to Portugal for an extended visit.  I don’t want to miss that flight.  Portugal should be great as it has a strong nautical heritage.  It will be fun to write about what we see there.   Stay tuned for more on all of that.

Today’s sunrise was “worth writing home about” as are so many sunrises afloat. I have to say that I never get tired of enjoying a cup of coffee with such spectacular displays.  You, however, might have a difference of opinion about the number of posts about sunrises.  I hope that you don’t think that “sunrise problem or worse, a “sunset problem”.  Oh well, something to think about.

Here’s an idea!  How about a picture of today’s sunrise? “Bob, Bob, this looks JUST LIKE THE OTHER DOZEN THAT YOU HAVE POSTED IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS!!!   ENOUGH ALREADY!!!” 

Perhaps, but just this one more, for consistency.

Alas, I digress…

The yard that Pandora’s now in is one that clearly caters to “snowbirds” who take their boats from the north in the summer to south in the winter.  The boats stored there display all sorts of home ports from up north including Pandora’s Newport RI and a few from Canada.  Actually, I saw a boat “Bear” that is home ported in RI and I am pretty sure that I have seen that boat in the past.

I asked one of the guys in the yard when most of the owners would be returning to leave St Mary’s with their boats. His answer:  November 1st, as that’s when most insurance companies allow boats into Florida waters.  November 1st is the official end of the hurricane season.    Interestingly, St Mary’s River marks the border between Georgia and Florida.   From an insurance perspective, the GA side of the ST Mary’s River is OK, while two hundred yards away, across the river, it’s a big NO-NO, as it’s Florida.  Well, I guess that you have to draw a line somewhere and the FL-GA border is where everyone draws that line.

When Brenda and I head to GA and Pandora in early January, we’ll likely be one of the last to leave the yard.  I’ll bet that it will be chilly.  However, to be completely truthful, cold is a relative term.  Compared to New England in January, temps in the 50s are the “new hot”.

The St Mary’s Boat Yard is much like any other do-it-yourself yard in that there is, what might be charitably described as an “eclectic” selection of boats.  Some are very nice but many have, shall we say, “seen better days”, and that’s putting it gently.   Some of these boats look like their best days were when fiberglass was a new building technique and some are surely older than their owners.  I’ll bet that Rocky, the owner of the yard, has become the owner of more than a few boats over the years that were abandoned by folks that decided not to pay their storage bills.  That would be quite annoying.  Anyway, Rocky runs a nice operation. 

Here’s the view from the lift dock.  Pretty spot if you can ignore the millions of “no-see-ums” that invade at dusk. His crane can pick up a boat that weighs in at a hefty 50 tons. Pandora seems pretty heavy to me but she only weighs in at a paltry 30,000 lbs or so.  That’s a feather weight 15 tons.  Not too hard for Rocky’s lift that can lift something that’s three times as heavy as Pandora. So, after a bottom wash, off she moves over to her new “home” for a few months.  Now I am siting in the comfort of air conditioning and just like all activities related to boating, it’s going to take me a LONG time to get home.   Actually, as my flight is so late today combined with the fact that I have to fly into JFK means that I won’t get home until Thursday.   My friend Craig is picking me up at the airport tonight and I’ll spend the night at his new place.  However, you already knew that from my last post, if you saw it, and that’s a BIG “if”.  

Tomorrow, my friend Rodney will pick me up at the train in Old Saybrook as Brenda’s out at a weaving conference for a few days.

Anyone who has spent time aboard boats knows that everything about boating is complicated and as is so often the case in life, “it takes a village”.  In  the case of Pandora, it seems to takes several villages or perhaps a small city of friends to keep her moving.

Good thing that I am so likable.  Well, my mother says I am, so don’t break my bubble.

All this writing has made me hungry for an ice cream.   I do have to keep my strength up.  That’s all for now.

 

It’s Tuesday afternoon and we are tied up at the city dock in St Mary’s GA.  The remainder of our run yesterday was uneventful if you leave out the run up the St Mary’s River late last night against an ebbing tide that sometimes ran at 4.5kts.  Given the fact that Pandora’s cruising speed tops out at a normally speedy 7+ knots, that meant that it took us two hours to cover the 6 or so miles from the beginning of the channel into the river.   It felt like FOREVER.

As we arrived on the full ebb tide, we had no choice but to power against the current all the way in.  It was fine except that it was pitch dark and midnight by the time we dropped the anchor just inside the entrance.  I am happy that there was a spot to anchor close in as to spend another hour plus making our way up the rest of the way up the curvy St Mary’s River in the dark would have been a bit too much after a long day.

Yesterday, I was treated to a fabulous sunrise.  It was very soothing to watch the sky go from grey to purple and to red as the sun rose over the ocean.

The boatyard that I am leaving Pandora in until early January is up a creek near town and we have to arrive at high tide tomorrow morning or there won’t be enough water to get near the dock.  The tide here is nearly 8’ so that means that with 8’ of water at high tide, there’s mud at low.  You have to watch the tide carefully. 

Brenda and I had visited St Mary’s when we did the ICW two years ago and enjoyed Thanksgiving with other cruisers at the St Mary’s hotel.  The owner of the hotel opens up his dining room to cruisers for a free dinner for Thanksgiving.  Local residents supply turkeys and hams and anyone attending is expected to bring a side dish to share.  While we missed being with family for the holiday, it was a fun time, never the less.

You can really tell that you are in the south here as it’s classic “low country” with marshes everywhere.   As Jim and I went out for breakfast this morning, we didn’t have to worry about crossing the street as there wasn’t a car in sight until lunchtime.   Sleepy place.

The marina where we tied up is pretty simple and given the condition of many boats that are tied up here, I expect that they aren’t too focused on getting top dollar for slips.  This shot is of one boat that’s securely tied up to the dock, I suspect for a long time.  I’ll bet that you could purchase it pretty cheap.Perhaps your money would be better spent joining the ST Mary’s Yacht Club.  Perhaps not.  This is the clubhouse.  The streets are lined with stately live oaks, covered in Spanish moss.This is the second oldest church in GA.  And, as a special bonus, It’s located on Osborne street. Bummer about the “e” in Osborn”e”.  It seems that most everyone spells it “wrong”.  Oh well. Notice how it’s raised up one story above the ground.  Like I said, it’s low country, really low.  I am sure that some folks have come to church by canoe at various times.Tonight we’ll go out for dinner and Wednesday we’ll move Pandora over to the yard to be hauled.  Getting home will take some time as my flight doesn’t get to JFK in NY until 8:30 which is too late to get a train back to Essex so I’ll head there on Thursday morning.  Happily, that will give me an opportunity to spend the night visiting my good friend Craig in his new home in Rye.  I have been looking forward to seeing Craig’s palace for a while so that works out well.

I am excited about being home again as it seems like FOREVER since I have seen Brenda.  Hope she hasn’t changed the locks.  Now wait, what women would turn away a “handyman”?  Of course!  She needs someone to do the chores and I am a pretty handy guy, if a bit annoying, much of the time.  Yes, I think she’ll let me in, dirty laundry and all.  That will be nice.