More good-byes and exotic ducks...

Paul and Salty

Patrick

This morning broke a little bitter-sweet.  It's very windy and a little cloudy and today I have to say good-bye to Paul and Claudia on the trawler "Peeples Choice" and to Patrick, our dock neighbor.  Both are leaving today for warmer waters and a view of the sunshine.  Paul and Claudia will be returning in the Spring, but I'm not sure about Patrick.  He does have family near here, but I have a feeling he's going to love the Bahama's and stay longer than the others.

I was a little surprised to see these little ducks right off our stern.  They may not be exotic, but I've never seen any like this before so they were photo-worthy.

Paul and Claudia leaving on Peeples Choice

Peeples Choice heading up the river 

Saying Bon Voyage...

Jim and the Dilligaf

This morning I helped cast off the lines for Dilligaf, Jim's sweet little trawler.  I hope Jim and Kathy both have a safe and fun journey for the winter and I can't wait to see you again in the Spring.

Kathy, getting ready to catch the lines

Jim, happy that the anchor was "un-stuck" so he can continue the trip

*Photos to follow soon...ran out of photo storage and had to buy more~lol  Waiting for it to load:-)

~Pamela

Man Found off Jacksonville Beach After Being Lost at Sea for Three Days

MAYPORT, Fla. -- A 73-year-old Connecticut man is safe on dry land after being lost at sea for three days.
According to Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher Evanson, Richard Steg of Storrs, Conn., was trying to sail from the Ponce De Leon Inlet near St. Augustine back to Connecticut.
Three people knew that Steg was making the trip, but didn't report him missing because they thought it would take him three weeks to make the trip, according to Steg.
Steg bought the "Bon Vivant" in Melbourne, Fla. a few weeks ago. He flew down last week so he could sail it back up to Connecticut.
Steg embarked on his journey Sunday in his 35-foot vessel "Bon Vivant." Steg said the National Weather Service had issued a small craft advisory but he went out anyway.
During a storm Monday morning, the boat's sail mast was snapped and the engine died. Steg said he made a half-dozen mayday calls but didn't think they were heard.
One of those calls was picked up by the operator of the tug boat "Calusa Coast" Tuesday night, who told Coast Guard Watchstanders about the call.
The Coast Guard sent up a rescue helicopter crew, who searched that night. The next morning, a C-130 crew flew over the same area, and just after 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the Coast Guard found Steg about 47 miles east of Jacksonville Beach.
Steg said when he woke up this morning, he saw a Coast Guard ship heading straight for him, and couldn't believe it, even crying.
Despite his time at sea, Evanson said that the man had minimal, if any, injuries.
The Coast Guard is calling the rescue a "miraculous case".

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/mostpopular/news-article.aspx?storyid=173556

More sailing terms...

So I am still learning all those sailing terms and thought I'd post a few more...  Unfortunately, these are not as fun as the others~lol

AFT ~ the back of the boat

BEAR AWAY ~ turning away from the wind

Not exactly the correct photo...but you have to admit it's cute:-)

BILGE ~ the lowest part of the boat (this is where all "stray" water collects)

BLOCK ~ a pulley with 1 or more wheels or sheaves

BOOM ~ the spar or beam that stabilizes the main sail

BOOM VANG ~ control line (rope), usually with multi-purpose tackle that keeps the boom from lifting in the wind

BOW ~ front of the boat

OK men...concentrate here...focus on the boat!

BOW LINE ~ line (rope) attached to the front of the boat

CAPSIZE ~ ok, I refuse to touch this one since I have no need to "learn" this term...seriously...

OK, so after the last photo, I am completely depressed.  That is a NICE bat!  I'll post more terms tomorrow without the "capsize" photo~lol

~Pamela

I'm SO bad...

Our neighbor, Patrick, his brother and his brother's girlfriend (maybe wife?) decided to go out for a "two hour" tour this afternoon.  When he told Dock Master Paul what he was doing, Paul said a "three hour tour?" (you know, from Gilligan's Island).

Well, Patrick hadn't been gone very long when he called Paul to tell him he had run hard aground.  Unfortunately, he had left the dock when the tide was going out and made a small miscalculation in depth.  I guess that happens from time to time.  Now, if this was a sandy bottom area, it would be no problem to hop overboard and push off, but there are several feet of mud on the bottom, so there's nothing to do but wait for high tide.

Well, to make matter's a little worse, Patrick is supposed to be leaving with the "pump out boy's" (the one's who sit on the "boy's dock...Paul, Steve and who knows who else) to go the Fantasy Fest in Key West tonight.  High tide isn't until just before mid-night...  I'll say no more;-)

Not being able to get the Gilligan's Island song out of my mind...and having a few glasses of wine (that's a key factor to my strange sense of humor), I had to "fix" the words to suit myself...then I printed out several copies to share with the other marina neighbors...and posted them on the main bulletin board.

Anyway...here's what I came up with:

The Tale of Patrick's Shake Down Cruise

(set to the tune of Gilligan's Isle)

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,

A tale of a fateful trip

That started from this river port

Aboard a tiny ship.

The mate was a skinny sailing man,

His brother strong and sure.

Three passengers set sail that day

For a short quick tour...a short, quick tour.

The tide, it started getting low

The tiny ship was beached

If not for the courage of the fearless crew

The minnow would be breached.

The ship set ground on the shore of this muddy strip of land

With Patrick...and his brother too

His girlfriend...or his wife?

The beer was gone

No food was packed

No ice was on board

stuck on muddy ground.

So this is the tale of the grounded crew

They're there for a long, long time

They'll have to make the best of things

It's a long time til high tide...long time til high tide.

The captain and his brother too

Will do there very best

To make the girlfriend comfortable

In the heat and the muddy mess.

No phone, no light, no dinghy ride

Not a single luxury

Like most boaters tales; this tale

Will be part of history.

So hurry up and get adrift

You're sure to get a smile

From your buddies here at Rivers Edge

Waiting for the “festival tour”

Tragedy for boaters...

I heard the Coast Guard report on the VHF while in the marina office as they pulled the drowning victim from the water.  This was extremely sad to hear.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-10-25/story/mayport-shrimpboat-capsizes-one-dead

Mayport shrimp boat capsizes; 1 dead

By Paul Pinkham

A Mayport shrimper was able to rescue the captain of a shrimp boat that took on water and capsized Monday off Amelia Island but was too late to save a crewman.

“When we got there to them, we just pulled them out of the water. That’s all I could do,” said lifelong shrimper Tony Malone. “It feels good, but it feels kind of sad because you couldn’t save the other person, too.”

Malone, first mate on the shrimping vessel Joe Bip, said his boat got a distress call about 3 p.m. from the 36-foot Miss Alberta, which was shrimping nearby, about a half mile from shore.

They rushed to help, and Malone dove into the water to save the two-member crew.

“The boat was already upside down,” he said.

He said he found the captain, who he and witnesses identified as Bo King of Mayport, swimming with his dead crew member tethered to him with a rope.

“A captain will do anything to try to keep his crew together, whether dead or alive,” Malone explained.

Neither the Coast Guard or Florida Fish and Wildlife officers would name the deceased shrimper, pending notification of his next of kin. No cause of death was announced.

Officers wouldn’t say what caused the boat to capsize.

Fish and Wildlife officers said the Joe Bip was one of two vessels that assisted in the rescue.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detectives and the Duval County Medical Examiner’s Office also were on the scene at the Safe Harbor dock in Mayport, where the body was brought Monday night.

King, clearly shaken by the tragedy, declined to speak with reporters.
Other shrimpers and their families and friends gathered at the dock.

“Anything can happen on a shrimp boat,” said lifelong shrimper John Diaz, 39, of Mayport.

He said his boat was about seven miles away and was unable to get to the Miss Alberta in time.

 “When something happens to one person, it happens to all of us,” Diaz said. “We’re just like family out here.”

paul.pinkham@jacksonville.com
(904) 359-4107

A simple truth about boaters...

I've been aboard The Mystery for about 2 months now and still living in the marina (darn that missing engine!) and I've decided that there are a few truths about boaters and marina life in general.

Boaters come in every variety you can imagine.  You have everything from the yuppie boaters to the old salts straight out of the old sea adventure movies.  Where they come in every description you can imagine, they all have one basic thing in common (with a couple of exceptions...of course), they are all willing to bend over backwards to help you when you need it.  I have had suggestions and actual physical help from a retired military boater who owns a rather nice (and expensive) trawler.  He didn't bat an eyelash at our rather cramped and chaotic lifestyle.  I've gotten help from an "old salt" that is a retired lobster fisherman (I hope I'm calling that by the correct name!) who was willing to stop what he was doing and come right over to answer a "What's that thing and why do I have it?" question.  I've really only had 1 "bad" boater experience and that was from a non-live aboard who only visits on the weekends.  Obviously, I can't call them a "real boater"~lol

I've also decided that there are obvious advantages to marina life and glaringly obvious disadvantages.  It's nice to have neighbors and really nice not having to dinghy in and out of the harbor every time you want to see someone.  Marina life provides an "instant community" complete with a ready supply of people who immediately have boating in common.  But, it also provides an instant community that may not be exactly to your liking all the time.  Normally, you would simply move your boat, but we're stuck (not to mention we love it here with only a couple of exceptions).  I think there's always going to be that "one" boater who's going to get on your nerves.  You know...the one that has to "push your button" every once in awhile.

Overall though, I have to say that this life is what you make of it.  I have totally embraced this lifestyle.  I'm happy with the yuppie boaters (where I was never tolerant of yuppies before) as well as the old salts that are a little rough around the edges but SO nice.  I seem to be able to move from group to group here and be accepted by all.  I'm so thankful that I've had the chance to meet so many people and learn so much in such a short time.  Everyday, I learn something new and I can't tell you how patient everyone has been with us "newbies".  Even the "dumb" questions are answered in all seriousness and I've never been made to feel stupid for asking them.

To all my fellow boaters, I tip my hat and say thank you, thank you, thank you.

~Pamela