June 9, 2014 Official Floridians

Today we rented a car from Enterprise (they will pick you up) so we could do all the paperwork involved to  become Florida residents.  We left town about an hour later than planned after exchanging vehicles. Our phone chargers wouldn’t work in the first car.  New car, so probably bad fuse. 

We drove to Green Cove Springs about 30 miles away.  We are using the mail service called St Brendan’s Isle located there.  We went directly to their location to start the process of becoming state residents.  Scott, that helped us, has been pheasant hunting in Bowdle and Hoven, SD.  Small world.  We had to sign paperwork for them to be able to handle our mail.  We needed 2 pieces of mail to take with us to DMV to get our driver’s licenses.  We had downloaded one and expected to have more in the mail today.  But they hadn’t arrived, possibly later today.  There was another form, called Declaration of Domicile, that we had to take to the court house to be certified to become residents and for voter’s registration.  Scott  had an idea that has worked for others. He made us a mailing label addressed to the two of us.  He told us to first go to the court house with our Declaration on Domicile form.  When they give us the certified copies back, ask them for an envelope with their return address printed on it.  Then put the forms in there with the label on it and use that as our second piece of mail. 

They were also very good about giving us directions to get everything done in one day.  First, we went to the court house to have the Declaration of Domicile notarized and certified.  Then we put them in their envelope with the mailing label. 

Second we went to the Dept of motor vehicles for our driver’s license and to register our boat and dinghy (deen=gee as Miesha would say).  They accepted the two forms of address verification that we had.  Yeah!  I guess it just depends on who you get as to how picky they are about the pieces of mail and whether they were downloaded and printed or actually mailed to  you.  It’s a little tricky when you don’t have utilities or rent/mortgage.  It probably helps if you are friendly like Dave.  And they signed us up for our voter’s registration.  One less stop, we thought.

Miesha recommended Sweet Sensations for lunch.  It was a great sandwich place with lots of desserts.  Dave wanted to try the peanut butter pie.  I picked up some free publications about the town.  It has a population of about 6,000 and seems to have a very active community.  It was a very clean city and everyone was very helpful and pleasant.  There were lots of community festivals throughout the year.

After lunch, we went back to St Brendan’s Isle for some copies to be made.  We thanked them for the addressed envelope, and let them know it worked.  We also mentioned that the DMV registers us to vote.  But they reminded us that we have to take the Declaration of Domicile form there, or they will be asking us to mail it later. 

We also wanted to register for concealed weapons licenses in Florida.  So we went to the Sheriff’s office for that.  All these buildings were within a mile of each other on the same stretch of the road.  There we were given a packet to mail to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.  They needed finger prints, which they do starting at 2:00.  So we went to a CVS to have passport photos taken as part of the packet.  We started filling out the forms and realized they had to be notarized.  So when we returned to the Sheriff’s office for our finger prints, they also had a notary public there and signed our forms for free.  We were glad we had just decided to do it all at once.  Otherwise we would have been scrambling to find a notary again.  We completed the packets and went directly to the post office.  I also mailed a post card to Dave’s mom from our new home in Florida.    Oh yes, and we did drop the Declaration of Domicile.  They were so excited that we did that. 

Whew!  By now I was ready to be done.  Before we left the Post office, Dave decided to go back in and file our change of address with them.  We found out that the post office will not accept address changes from a mailing service.  Once it arrives at that service address, it is considered delivered.  So we will have to contact everyone that we still do business with, besides family and friends, to give them our new address.  We actually have already done that with most of our business contacts.  Needless to say, I am going to make a list and keep it updated, because it will be the same whenever we leave St Brendan’s Isle.  Yes, someday we’ll have a permanent address again. 

Before we left town, we stopped at the Green Cove Springs Marina.  I guess it is a good hurricane hole because it is 30 miles inland.  It is on the St John’s river that flows into Jacksonville from the ocean and turns south.  It is a working marina.  It is fairly reasonable to have your boat hauled out of the water to have work done, which sounds like needs to be done every couple years.  And they allow you to work on the boats yourself, which not all marinas will do.  But it was not a resort type of marina.  I felt like we were in the “red neck/white trash” part of Florida.  I’m glad we checked it out before spending a day getting here by boat from the coast.  I will know to make arrangements to visit family and friends while Dave works on the boat :)

We arrived back in St Augustine about 5:00.  Since we had a car, we decided to have dinner someplace we couldn’t walk to.  We drove east of the marina to the next island before the coast.  We found the Conch House Resort and Marina with a great restaurant.  The outdoor seating had several individual tables with their own tiki huts out over the water.  We had one of their excellent dinner specials, crab stuffed grouper over rice and vegetables.  We each took half home.  It was a nice celebration of becoming Floridians.

Then we made a stop at West Marine.  Dave picked up a few parts he needed.  And we decided to try a new seat cushion.  We are realizing that taking watch can get uncomfortable when you have to be at the helm for 2 hour shifts for 8-10 hour days.  Along the inter coastal waterway, we haven’t been using the autopilot.  There are too many twists and turns.  This one can lay flat, but you can bend it in half.  Then it has five positions you can set the back to.  Plus the side fold out into arm rests.  If we really like it, we may get another one.  We were able to use a gift certificate from Dave’s brother, Dean, from Christmas to cover part of it.  Thank you Dean.  You would have liked this cushion on your watches.  But you will probably get a chance to use it in the future (just like your mom’s metal  drinking glasses, heehee).  

We saved the worst for last-Walmart.  We needed a few things besides groceries, so we decided to go here and do both at once.  We spilt up the list, but it still takes forever.  It was after 10:00 by the time we left.  Then we had to find a place to park near the marina.  Dave went to the marina, at least a block away, to get us a dock cart (nice wheel barrel).  I organized the groceries so the breads, fruits, and eggs don’t get damaged.  And I use several reusable bags that are stronger than the grocery bags.  Then we have to load everything into the dinghy, motor to the boat, unload everything, and put away what had to be refrigerated.  Whew!!

We make the most out of having a car for 24 hours.  I think this was an 18 hour day for me.  I know this was a long post, but it is amazing what extra steps you have to take when you don't have a car at your convenience.

new "home"

June 8, 2014 America's oldest Catholic Parish

 Happy Birthday to my brother, Don, and brother-in-law, Jim!!

I started out the day being able to walk to church at the oldest Catholic parish in the US.  In 1565, Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed and proclaimed this site for Spain and the Church.  They celebrated mass and began America’s first Mission.  The Cathedral was built in 1797 and is home of America’s oldest Catholic Parish.  It was beautiful, but much simpler than most European cathedrals. The organ was amazing.  Justin in Rapid City would have loved it. 

I then found a Greek and Polish market to take lunch back to Dave at the boat.  I bought a phyllo/filo dough pastry with feta cheese and one with spinach and feta.  I also bought baklava.  Fun treat!

This afternoon, we organized everything we would need to take with us to become residents of Fl.  We would hate to rent a car, drive about 30 miles, and forget something.  We also planned what other errands we would need to do while we have a car for 24 hours.  You don’t want to waste any time.  We need to go to a marine supply store and hit a Walmart for incidentals and groceries (one stop).  So I looked up their locations to map things out. 

I didn’t mention it, but on Friday, I made red beans using our thermos.  I soaked the beans overnight.  Then I brought the beans to a boil, then cooked the beans for 10 minutes.  Then you place then in a thermos for 3 hours (or more depending on the quality of your thermos).  So today, Dave made cajun red beans which we ate over rice.  We also learned to cook rice conserving  energy.  Bring it to a boil, cook 5 minutes and shut off.  Leave lid in place for 30 minutes.  Cooks just fine.  We also do this with pasta.  He also grilled brats.  The leftovers went in the red beans. 

Before going to the grocery store tomorrow, I wanted to check out our spices and our freezer.  I took all of our spices off of our rack, checked each one for freshness (smelled them), consolidated where needed, then documented them in my phone app What’s on my Boat.  I also made note of the ones I have stored. 

I had a pretty good list of the freezer contents already, but was able to  clarify numbers and found some bagels I didn’t know we had.  Then I made myself a gin and tonic (needed to empty a tonic bottle and use up a lime) and went out to the cockpit to enjoy the evening and enter everything into my phone app. 

St Augustine Cathedral-Basilica

awesome organ

murals depicting history

Greek/Polish market

Street in St Augustine

June 7, 2014 Tourist Day in St Augustine

I was able to connect with our possible new insurance agent to answer a few more questions.  He is going to check one more thing for me by Monday, then we should be ready to go with our new company, Pantaenius through Casey Insurance.

Today, I decided to see a few sights in St Augustine.  Dave actually likes to do some projects where he doesn’t have to worry about me trying to move about the boat.
First, lunch at the Mill Top Tavern across the road from the fort that I was going to tour.  Great outdoor atmosphere with a guy playing songs I recognized :)

tourist lunch

view of the fort from  the restaurant

Then off to the Castillo de San Marcos.  It was built between 1672 and 1695.  It has flown the flags of Spain, Britain, Spain again, then the US.  The fort was never taken by force, only military agreements or political treaties.  The walls were made of coquina, a type of shell stone indigenous to the area.  It absorbed the cannonball blasts rather than crumble.  It’s amazing how much of it is still standing today.  On the weekends, they have cannon blast demonstrations.  I watched it from outside and below the wall and then again inside.  I was here with Dave and my parents in 1980, but I don’t remember any of the interior.  Probably just walked around the exterior.  My mom wouldn’t have paid for sour cream if it was extra :)

View of Bridge of Lions from the fort.  Our boat is on the other side of the bridge

cannon fire

cannon demo

inside fort

moat and walls

After touring the fort, Dave joined me on land.  We returned to the Columbia restaurant to have their paella.  We had their awesome salad and their mussels and andouille sausage appetizer.  Then we shared their house special paella.  I am sorry to say that we were disappointed.  Their menu tells you that it will be a 30 minute wait for special preparation.  Well, it ended up tasting like a SD casserole.  Very disappointing.  We remember paella in Spain over 30 years ago and were hoping for that same experience. (and Dave undercooked the rice the last time we tried it at home)

Today was the 425th anniversary of Sir Francis Drake’s British raid on St Augustine.  There is a reenactment of the raid.  There were military camps set up near Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth.  Then at 7:00pm at the City Gates there was a sacking and burning of the town.  Then Drake’s forces drove the Spanish from the streets (where we were waiting on St George St), then everyone followed them to a plaza where there was a battle.  Lots of shooting of historic guns. 

After Drake’s men looted and burned the town, the Spanish Colonists returned and rebuilt the city.  So this is the oldest continuously occupied city in the US, since 1565.

After the demo, we had ice cream (doesn’t keep in our freezer) and returned to the boat.

 Spaniard being driven from the streets

British army

Spaniards

June 6, 2014 Boat Day in St Augustine

Today Dave worked to connect the AIS-automated identification system- with the chart plotter.  That way we can identify boats that are seen on our radar.  We can all them through DSC which sends out a signal to the other boat.  Also, at this time, we have the AIS in the Navigation station below deck.  When it picks up another ship, it starts to beep very loud.  If you aren’t on watch, sometimes you are sleeping.  So Dave is also trying to have that on/off switch outside, too.  His day ended in ordering a $100 part that will make the connection easier. 

I needed to go to shore to find a notary public for a piece of paper I needed to become a Florida resident.  Our bank wasn’t within walking distance.  And the first bank I called said I had to be a  member of their bank to use their notary.  I found a place yesterday, but the notary wasn’t in for the afternoon.  So I called today before leaving.  He was leaving shortly, but would be back at noon.  You hesitate, you lose!  So at noon I went to shore and walked about 6 blocks to find him at Cartridge world, a mail center and print shop.  Then I had to hustle back to the boat to have this document scanned and e-mailed back to South Dakota, so they could e-mail me something that I could print.  This explanation is just to show you how complicated things can be when you live on a boat and don’t have a car.  We are really glad we have a portable scanner and printer on board.  I’m not sure where we would have gone to do all those steps. 

I spent part of the afternoon cleaning the heads.  With that being done, I felt better about being a tourist this weekend.  Late afternoon, I went to shore to pick up a package we had sent to the marina.  When we know we will be in one place for a few days, we order the things we have on a list.  As I was returning to the boat in our dinghy, I was shot at by a cannon on shore.  It was on the shore where I could see an American flag and several cannons.  There was a group of people there and all the building had red, white and blue banners.  I think it was a veteran’s group commemorating D-Day.  I didn’t take it personal.

Today our package was our new bug screens to block the No-see’ms.  Yeah!!  What we have now is a rigid screen that is on the inside of the boat.  Each one has 8 little toggles to hold it in place.  But they don’t seal very well around the edges.  Plus if it starts raining, you have to remove the screens to close the windows.  The new ones sit outside over the top of the hatch and have lead weights to hold them down on the deck all around the hatch.  We’re not sure how well they will sit there in a high wind.  So we’ll probably bring them inside anyway.  Dave found out that there may be bugs on the outside of the screen, so you have to check that when bringing them in.  Plus if it has already started to rain, they may be wet.  So far we have just put them in the head when we bring them in.  I guess there are trade offs with everything. 

The wind was starting to pick up when I went to shore for the packages, so we decided to skip the music at the Irish Pub and spend the night on board.

June 3-4-5, 2014 To St Augustine

Tuesday: We left the marina about 10:00am.  We went about a mile north and stopped at a marina for fuel.  We hadn’t fueled since we left Marathon.  We followed the intracoastal waterway again today, because the inlet at New Smyrna Beach sounded like it had a lot of shoaling that changed constantly.  And tides could make a strong current, too.  Plus we could stop where we pleased instead of trying to make another inlet. 

Pretty uneventful day.  There were 11 bridges.  Only 5 were draw bridges.  And only one of them was on a 20 minute schedule.  The others just opened upon our request.  Very little traffic.  We enjoyed looking at the homes along the ICW.  We anchored about 5 miles south of St Augustine in a very quiet bay right off the ICW.  We did hit bottom entering this bay in one spot.  But we easily backed off of the  sand bar. 

Because of our incident with biting bugs recently, we decided to eat dinner inside the boat.  After dinner, I could see some brilliant colors in the sky.  So I took a chance and went outside to watch the sunset.  It was worth it.  The sky was beautiful.  And there were dolphins surfacing near the boat.  And you could hear morning doves cooing.  SO peaceful.

Wednesday: today we only moved the boat about 5 miles to the St Augustine Municipal Marina.  When we were in sight of the marina, we called on the VHF radio.  They gave us directions to a mooring ball.  We were settled by noon.  We spent the afternoon planning our trip to Green Cove Springs to become residents of Florida.  We have to have 2 pieces of mail arrive at that location from some business to show that is a permanent address.  So we spent the afternoon trying to get that set up.  We also spent some time changing addresses since we had wifi again.

We went to shore late afternoon, paid for our  mooring ball, then walked around town.  Before we left the dock, Dave had to fix our dinghy motor.  The water discharge was clogged with barnacles (little ones).  We found a paper clip that he could insert to clear it. 

There is so much history here.  St Augustine is the oldest continuous settlement in the US, about 445 years now.  So the part of the old town, which is near the marina, has narrow streets and old buildings.  St George St had only pedestrian traffic.  There are lots of shops and a few restaurants.  We ended up at the Columbia.  It is a Spanish restaurant that was started in Tampa in 1905, with only 5 locations now.  I had eaten at one in Clearwater Beach, FL about 10 years ago and remembered how good it was.  We had their Sangria that is mixed table side with fresh fruit, brandy, an orange liqueur, and a white sparking wine.  Dave had their Spanish soup (a bean soup) and I had their 1905 salad.  This was also mixed table side. Their unique ingredient was Worcestershire in their dressing.  Very good.  Dave had a combination dinner with 3 meats and I had Merluza “A La Rusa”-Spain’s favorite fish, breaded with Cuban bread crumbs and grilled, garnished with a Russian sauce of lemon butter, parsley an hard boiled eggs (chopped), served with yellow rice and vegetables.  Wow!  We had a very heavy box of leftovers.  And their signature dessert was Flan, which is Dave’s favorite.  Another reason we took half of our meals home.  We want to return to try their paella.  They also had hot Cuban bread with the meal. 

Needless to say, we went for a long walk after dinner.  We continued along St George St then headed towards the water to see the fort built in the 1600’s.  Too late to tour, but walked the perimeter.  We headed back to the boat along the water.  But we heard Irish music coming from an Irish Pub.  So we stopped for one beer.  The music was only a recording.  But they will have live music Friday night, so we may go back.

Thursday: boat projects

We plan to wait out some rough weather this weekend then go to Green Cove Springs on Monday with a rental car.

2 Spanish Galleons docked in St Augustine. the smaller darker one had been in Ft Myers Beach while we were there

June 1-2, 2014 Marina days in New Smyrna Beach

Sunday: I found a church I could walk to if I had left early enough.  I ended up taking a taxi there and walking home about 1.5 miles.  It was a beautiful walk and I enjoyed looking at the homes along the river.  I spent the late afternoon doing laundry at the marina.  I made it there just in time to miss a downpour.  I guess that was the weather we were waiting to hit before leaving the marina. 

We ended up trying a local restaurant, Dolphin View, that we could walk to.  We shared a  burger and flounder.  Both were good.

Monday:  we walked to a drug store downtown about 6 blocks away for a late breakfast.  It was an old establishment with a diner that was recommended by other sailors.  If you were looking for the old diner experience, it was great.  Dave even had a milkshake.  But if you were looking for a great breakfast, there may be others to choose from. 

We worked on boat projects again today.  Dave met another couple that were on a trawler (motorized boat) that were interesting to talk to.  We ended up joining them at the same restaurant we went to the night before.  We then went for a walk downtown to show them the diner/drug store.  Then we returned to the marina, visited a little longer and with some other sailors.  Everyone seemed to be out on the dock tonight.  I guess our good weather was here.  So we called it an early night to be able to leave in the morning

Dave's milkshake-we wanted the diner in the background

May 31, 2014 New Smyrna Beach

I started out the day walking to a Farmer's Market just a block away.  I have missed the weekly one in Ft Myers Beach.  We were out of all of our perishable items.  So I bought vegetables, fruits, breads and even farm eggs (paid for the convenience).

We invited the Sweeney's over for breakfast so they could see the boat.  Since Rita, Brian's mom, is 85 and moving a little slower, we had a picnic at the shore.  There was a picnic table with shade.  We made coffee and brought it in a thermos.  We had fresh fruit and cinnamon raisin bread.  They even brought some fruit, too.  So it was a yummy spread.

I showed Rita photos of the boat.  The we took Kathyrn and Brian to the boat.  They loved it and wished they had time to go for  sail with us.  We'll have to check with them on our way south this fall.
Then we went with them to see Rita's condo on the beach.  It's a time share condo that she has been going to for a week for 30 years.  Very nice place on the 7th, top, floor overlooking the ocean.  There was a nice pool and great beach right out the front door.  They allow cars on the beach, which seemed strange to me.

They had to run to Walmart and the liquor store, so we were able to pick up a few things, too.  Sure was handy for  us.  Then we had lunch at Firehouse Subs.  We hadn't been to one since we left Alabama and  missed them.  Wonderful subs if you ever get a chance to try one.

We all said our good-bye's and they headed back for Orlando.

We took short naps.  That was a busy day for us!  Then we started on computer work, like catching up on my blogs.

There was an Irish pub within walking distance that we had considered going to.  But again, we were lazy and since we had shore power, WE COULD MAKE POPCORN IN THE MICROWAVE.  Boy have our priorities changed.  

Breakfast picnic at marina with Farmer's Market goodies

they hope to sail with us on our return trip

sign outside of our marina

Rita's condo at the beach

they had to go to Walmart, so we picked up a few supplies.  This is a dock cart for use by anyone in the marina