 |
| The Night Before the Launch; photo credit: NASA |
Friday, April 29, 2011
Scrubbed Launch....So Bummed
Last Launch Day for Endeavor
Today is the last launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor, it's mission is to deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-3 (ELC-3) and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) and a pallet loaded with spare parts to the International Space Station during a 14-day mission. The AMS is a cutting-edge physics experiment designed to look for anti-matter in the cosmos and perhaps unlock the mystery of what makes up most of the mass in the universe. The Endeavor shuttle will go to its final resting place at the California Science Center in Los Angeles after this mission. The Discovery had its last mission in March and is going to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum; the Atlantis shuttle will have a launch at the end of June and will stay at the Kennedy Space Center; and the Enterprise, the first orbiter built, will move from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.
We made it to Titusville, although we had to take the ICW because the wind outside was completely against us. So, while we don't like to motor inside, it was the best way to get here and this was on our must-do list. We are anchored outside of the Titusville City Marina, which is basically across from the launch pad. We hear the crowds will be huge today, so we're glad we're on a boat and not having to deal with the traffic.
The weather yesterday afternoon was crazy, we had strong winds, heavy rain and hail! Today is a bit better but still, intermittent rain, windy, and low cloud cover. I hope it clears up so we can get some good pictures!
We made it to Titusville, although we had to take the ICW because the wind outside was completely against us. So, while we don't like to motor inside, it was the best way to get here and this was on our must-do list. We are anchored outside of the Titusville City Marina, which is basically across from the launch pad. We hear the crowds will be huge today, so we're glad we're on a boat and not having to deal with the traffic.
The weather yesterday afternoon was crazy, we had strong winds, heavy rain and hail! Today is a bit better but still, intermittent rain, windy, and low cloud cover. I hope it clears up so we can get some good pictures!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
It's National Park Week, so....
...you can visit any national park this week for free! We went to Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, which is the fort that we see from our boat. It was started in 1672 and is one of the oldest standing structures in North America. It has served six different flags, survived hurricanes, and withstood bombardments and sieges.
 |
| Outside the Castillo de San Marcos |
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
A Man With a Mission
We decided to stay on a mooring in St. Augustine harbor for a week. You can anchor here but they have seriously reduced the size of the anchorage area with the new moorings. Many people (boaters) are pretty angry about that, they feel that they have the right to anchor anywhere for free. While I agree with that, this area is very close to the inlet and has very strong currents, so being on a mooring will prevent a lot of boats from swinging or dragging into each other. So we decided to pick up a mooring which also allows us to use all the marina services (it cost $20 per night or 7 nights for the price of 6), although you can pay $10 per day for the same services if you are anchored.
After our first night, as we were getting school going and checking things out on deck, we happened to meet a kayaker paddling through the mooring field. He stopped to ask a couple of questions and then he ended up coming on board for a while and talking with us.
After our first night, as we were getting school going and checking things out on deck, we happened to meet a kayaker paddling through the mooring field. He stopped to ask a couple of questions and then he ended up coming on board for a while and talking with us.
 |
| Jason the Kayaker |
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Spending Time in St. Augustine
We decided to stay in St. Augustine for a week. Our short term plans are to be in Cape Canaveral for the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavor, which is currently scheduled for April 29th; there are only 2 more launches to go and we are hoping to watch one from the boat!
While we are in St. Augustine we are planning to take in some historical tours and some fun stuff too. We've walked around the town a bit and scoped out where the ice cream shops are, so we'll tone down the homeschool this week while we try to absorb some local history.
 |
| Pedro Menéndez de Avilés |
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Charleston to St. Augustine
by Bill
Well, we left Charleston in the morning with the outgoing tide. It had been a weekend of celebrating the 150th year since the initial battle of that terrible historical event known as the Civil War. That initial battle happened in Charleston, more specifically at fort Sumter. Several re-enactments have taking place with cannons firing daily. Luckily none fired at us as we passed the fort.
It was a great sail leaving the harbor and inlet. The forecast and grib files indicated the weather should be good for our initial leg south to Florida. We were hoping to make it to at least Fernandina or if speeds were good, maybe St Augustine with only one night at sea. This shouldn’t bee too much trouble if we can sail the rhumb line which would take us over thirty miles offshore but still inside the Gulf Stream.
Things were going well and Tribe was sailing along very comfortably at 7 to 8 kts with winds out of the southwest. As night began to set in the winds shifted further south and more on our nose causing our course to go further offshore – this actually added miles and time. Later in the night the winds increase but also moved to the south east. All said, it caused us to make a decision to either point to Fernandina, with an arrival past sunset, or continue south for St. Augustine or Ponce de León. With the winds and seas building from the SE, not a good direction for entering Ponce de León, we decided to sail to St. Augustine. This meant arriving in the wee hours of the morning so we would have to “heave to” offshore and enter in the morning. So we did.
In the morning we were lying about 12 miles offshore with winds and seas out of the SE. It was an easy run into St. Augustine but the entrance was a real washing machine (to use one of Cole’s surfing terms), but we made it in without issue. We then looked for a place to anchor and clean up from the past two nights at sea.
Well, we left Charleston in the morning with the outgoing tide. It had been a weekend of celebrating the 150th year since the initial battle of that terrible historical event known as the Civil War. That initial battle happened in Charleston, more specifically at fort Sumter. Several re-enactments have taking place with cannons firing daily. Luckily none fired at us as we passed the fort.
It was a great sail leaving the harbor and inlet. The forecast and grib files indicated the weather should be good for our initial leg south to Florida. We were hoping to make it to at least Fernandina or if speeds were good, maybe St Augustine with only one night at sea. This shouldn’t bee too much trouble if we can sail the rhumb line which would take us over thirty miles offshore but still inside the Gulf Stream.
Things were going well and Tribe was sailing along very comfortably at 7 to 8 kts with winds out of the southwest. As night began to set in the winds shifted further south and more on our nose causing our course to go further offshore – this actually added miles and time. Later in the night the winds increase but also moved to the south east. All said, it caused us to make a decision to either point to Fernandina, with an arrival past sunset, or continue south for St. Augustine or Ponce de León. With the winds and seas building from the SE, not a good direction for entering Ponce de León, we decided to sail to St. Augustine. This meant arriving in the wee hours of the morning so we would have to “heave to” offshore and enter in the morning. So we did.
In the morning we were lying about 12 miles offshore with winds and seas out of the SE. It was an easy run into St. Augustine but the entrance was a real washing machine (to use one of Cole’s surfing terms), but we made it in without issue. We then looked for a place to anchor and clean up from the past two nights at sea.
Two Birds, Two Sharks, One Sea Turtle, and Many Dolphins....
We left Charleston early on Wednesday with light winds out of the west. We knew we'd only have a couple of days of favorable winds before they turned more southerly. We didn't have a specific destination, but we're trying to get to an area in Florida where we have a straight shot over to the west coast, near Tampa, so we can arrange to pick up some things we left with Bill's parents over there. So, we left with no real destination in mind, only to head in when the winds turn against us.
The boat sailed well; we are still learning about her and trying different things with the sails. We don't have a roller furler so if we want to reduce sail we can either reef our genoa (the largest sail) or put on our smaller jib. We did end up using the jib with a reefed main over night because we wanted to slow the boat down (~5 kts) while there was only one person on watch.
It was a mostly uneventful trip, but we did have some visitors worth mentioning. Twice during the first day we had a bird fly into our salon! The first one was in and out fairly quick, but the second one took a few minutes to coax out; it tried to get out the windows (that were closed) and flew down into one of the aft cabins, but finally flew up and out an open hatch, thankfully unhurt. We also saw two sharks! The first one was a hammerhead (you could see his head through the waves) which was swimming near our fishing line, so we brought in the lines we had out. The second one we could only see his fin, which was dark grey or black, but you could tell it was a shark by the dorsal fin and tail. We also saw dolphins throughout the day, but there wasn't enough of a bow wave for them to swim in, so they were off to the side a little, but they are always fun to see. And lastly, and most fun of all, a large sea turtle! He was swimming near the surface about a twenty five yards from the boat. It was a few miles outside of St. Augustine inlet. We hoped he would come by our boat, but he headed out to sea.
The boat sailed well; we are still learning about her and trying different things with the sails. We don't have a roller furler so if we want to reduce sail we can either reef our genoa (the largest sail) or put on our smaller jib. We did end up using the jib with a reefed main over night because we wanted to slow the boat down (~5 kts) while there was only one person on watch.
 |
| Our Second Bird |
It was a mostly uneventful trip, but we did have some visitors worth mentioning. Twice during the first day we had a bird fly into our salon! The first one was in and out fairly quick, but the second one took a few minutes to coax out; it tried to get out the windows (that were closed) and flew down into one of the aft cabins, but finally flew up and out an open hatch, thankfully unhurt. We also saw two sharks! The first one was a hammerhead (you could see his head through the waves) which was swimming near our fishing line, so we brought in the lines we had out. The second one we could only see his fin, which was dark grey or black, but you could tell it was a shark by the dorsal fin and tail. We also saw dolphins throughout the day, but there wasn't enough of a bow wave for them to swim in, so they were off to the side a little, but they are always fun to see. And lastly, and most fun of all, a large sea turtle! He was swimming near the surface about a twenty five yards from the boat. It was a few miles outside of St. Augustine inlet. We hoped he would come by our boat, but he headed out to sea.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Kumbaya.......Come By Here
 |
| Approach to Boone Hall |
You can go broke trying going to all the different houses, plantation, prisons ,etc. that abound here. We've been here for several months and decided to go to Boone Hall Plantation which is only a few miles from where we are docked.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Exodus from Charleston
Well, we are one of the last of the wintering boats here in Charleston. Our friends are leaving one by one as we try to finish projects and get ourselves out of here. Now that Bill is on leave from work we don't have incoming funds to stay at a marina for very long. We hope to finish up and be out of here by the end of next week. We are headed south (while everyone else is headed north), destination will be the Bahamas or the Florida Keys. We are still waiting for Cooper's passport which is taking longer than usual to process.
The other kid-boat here in Charleston with us, Inconceivable, left Saturday. Sabastian and Paisley were just about the boys' ages and were great playmates for the months we were both here. But, now they are on their way north to begin the Great Loop, a trip that will take them (basically) up the Hudson, through the Erie Canal, the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. While we have been here, we were lucky enough to join a homeschool group that had different activities going on in the area, including a chess club and book club. Usually we don't stay in one place long enough to get involved like that, but since we were here for 4 months (yikes!), it has been very helpful to have a little routine to get into and other kids to play with. The marina is also walking distance from the library so that is a big plus.
 |
| Homeschool Kids |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)