June 10, 2014 Preparations for leaving St Augustine

 First thing this morning, I took the dinghy to shore to return the car.  The car was parked on the street where they start charging $1.50 an hour starting at 8:00.  Not knowing how aggressive they are about ticketing here, I made it to the car right at 8:00.  It didn’t take long to get to Enterprise with a stop for coffee on the way.  They then give you a ride back to the marina.  Otherwise I would have had to take a taxi. 

We sorted through our paperwork from yesterday.  I finalized our new insurance online.  Went from $2500/year to $1500/year.  There are more restrictions for where we can sail during hurricane season, but that was OK this year anyway.  If we later want to change our sailing area, it will be higher, but still less than the first company.  And this is much better coverage for cruiser/live a boards like us. 

Dave made his new favorite spread.  At the farmer’s market in New Smyrna Beach, I found a spread that was made of only garlic, canola oil, lemon juice and a little salt.  You can use it as a spread anywhere you would use mayonnaise.  He bought at least 24 cloves of garlic last night.  We’re talking about one clove being the clump of about 10 cloves.  He peeled all but a few we will save for other uses.  Then he chopped them very fine and used his own mix with olive oil, lemons and limes and salt.  Pretty powerful stuff.  Good thing we don’t talk to other people often.  I’ll let you know if we get to the point where we can’t stand each other’s smell. 

I went to shore to use the laundry at the marina.  It’s nice to do that while we have access.  We are planning to start washing clothes by hand if we need to.  Other cruisers recommend a 5 gallon bucket and a plunger.  I’m sure I will get photos of that once it happens.

I also picked up packages.  W bought a Wonderbag.  When I use it, I’ll explain with pictures.  But it is similar to a crockpot, only you start the cooking and place it in this bag.  Kind of like I make beans in a thermos.  Jackie Killion saw it on TV, I think on Rachel Ray. 

We repackaged some of our meats for the freezer.  I am trying Ziploc’s vacuum bags for the first time.  They are textured on one side, have a port for removing air, and come with a  little hand pump.  Worked nice.  So we’ll see if the meats keep better.  I even put some bagels in vacuum bags. 

Dave grilled chicken and potatoes tonight on the grill.  The new garlic spread was awesome on the potatoes. 

Now we need to tuck up things for moving the boat again tomorrow.  There are chances of showers and thunderstorms all week.  So we plan to just stay on the ICW instead of the open water.