2014 /11/29 Palm Coast to West Palm Beach, FL
11/13/2014 Palm
Coast Marina to Titusville RR Bridge, FL 65 nm
11/14/2014 Titusville
RR Bridge to Titusville City Marina, FL 2 nm
11/19/2014 Titusville
City Marina to Indiatlantic Bridge, FL 36 nm
11/20/2014 Indiatlantic
Bridge to Vero Beach Mooring Field, FL 30 nm
12/01/2014 Vero
Beach Mooring Field to N. Lake Worth, FL 55 nm
Total
Miles to Date: 788
nm
“It
does not matter how many times you get knocked down. What matters is
how many times you get up.” Bobby Mock – Coxswain for 1936
Olympic championship 8 man rowing shell.
CLOD
For a Day (Cruisers, Living On Dirt):
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday - maybe
the only holiday the “commercial” has not been able to screw up.
Thanksgiving is a time for family and friends to gather, share a
good meal, and catchup on each other's lives. My Uncle Jack and Aunt
Katherine Hankins from Kinston were my only relatives in North
Carolina. Katherine was a wonderful lady with a generous heart and
never failed to invite my family for Thanksgiving Dinner. However,
there was a catch. Jack had a big yard with lots of trees and
a huge supply of leaf rakes. Jack's Thanksgiving tradition meant
raking his leaves. It sounds sneaky but it was actually fun..working
with friends always is.
 |
| Turtle's Eye View of Victoria Gaye, Temptation & Skat |
We had stopped in Titusville to visit with
Steve and Aggie Knox, share an early Thanksgiving dinner, and catch
up on each other's lives. We met Steve and Aggie while anchored at
Royal Island near Spanish Wells Gigi and my first year cruising
together and for some reason became fast friends for life – it
happens that way when you cruise relationships develop fast. Steve
and Aggie were full time cruisers until a few years back when Steve
found a job, bought a house, moved ashore for a spell, and became a
“CLOD.” Steve was actually the first person I ever heard
use the term CLOD...so Aggie if you don't like it its Steve's fault.
Saturday rolled around and Gigi had been
announcing for weeks that she and Aggie were going to do a “girls”
day out and Steve and I could just “hang out” at their house.
Aggie showed up at 9:00 and the girls were off. Steve pick me up and
on the way out to the house started mumbling something about “bushes
and elephant ears” Not speaking CLOD anymore I rode on in
“cruisers bliss.” It was only when we turned into the drive and
large piles of brush appeared piled next to the fence that I started
to suspect something was amiss. It was right there I became CLOD for
a day...what I didn't know was I was going to be sucked into becoming
a pirate as well.
Steve put a shovel in my hand and said “let's
go.” The house next door was vacant having been in foreclosure on
for many months and as it turned out had a huge “volunteer”
supply of elephant ears growing wild in the jungle at the back of the
house. Aggie liked elephant ears and Steve was on a mission to
liberate a few from the neighbor's jungle. We jumped the fence or in
my case sort of clambered over doing as little bodily harm to my self
as possible, slunk not so deep into the neighbor's swamp, quietly
liberated a few plants, and beat our way back thru the palmetto and
across the fence to Steve's. Me, all the time thinking, “So this
is what CLODS do.”
As we put the shovel away and the liberated
elephant ears in a cool place in the garage for planting later Steve
muttered, “How 'bout helping me hump the brush out to the street
and then we can cut that palmetto palm back out by the drive. Aggie
want's that thing out a here.” “Why not.” I said, with
visions of my Uncle Jack's Thanksgiving tradition starting to
crystallize in my feeble brain. Steve stuck a set of long handled
pruning shears in my hands and we went at this huge palmetto that I
sort of thought looked nice near the front edge of the drive....but
if Aggie wanted it down, down it would be.
An hour later the bush was down and brush piles
humped to the street we retired to the house. Steve and I had just
settled into enjoy a well deserved beer and Gaterade out by the pool
when we heard the girl's car pull into the drive (Steve is smarter
than I and does not drink).
Aggie being the astute person she is noticed
the huge pile of brush near the street and...the missing palmetto
palm that had once lined her drive and was not happy. With steam
rolling out of her ears she made a beeline for Steve. I really
sort of felt sorry for Aggie at this point. She had company and
could not unleash her full wifely ire on Steve. At least I felt
sorry until Steve muttered, “It was Vic's idea” and quickly
disappeared out the door to plant elephant ears – Steve is quick on
his feet he is. I did what my old buddy Jeff Hildberg taught me to
do with mad women - looked at my feet and kept my mouth shut (I got
ya back Steve, old buddy, but ya owe me).
Aggie of course calmed down and forgave us
both, fed us a great meal, and I got to be a CLOD for a day even
managing to piss off someone else's wife. And as a bonus, was
rewarded with warm memories of my Uncle Jack and Aunt Katherine, and
had the great pleasure of working with a good friend...even if he did
get me in trouble with his wife.
In truth, I enjoyed being a CLOD for a day but
don't intend to make a habit of it...not yet...not yet.
 |
| Vero by Night |
A
Cruiser's Thanksgiving:
Some of the best things in our lives seem to
just “happen.” Our second Thanksgiving was shaping up to be one
of those time and will be one of my most memorable.
 |
| Earl |
We made Vero Beach Mooring field as a group
with the Turtle slightly ahead of the pack followed by Buck and Vicki
on Victoria Gaye, Earl and Karen on Temptation, and Jim
and Barb on Skat (all Matthews Point Marina Boats...or
honorarily MP boats). Craig and Dovie on Bubbles would arrive a few
days later in some of the worst weather we have had...bless 'em.
 |
| Buck & Vicki |
The girls immediately went into planning mode.
The Turtle offered the most room so was naturally drafted as
host boat for Thanksgiving dinner. Vic would do the turkey and
gravy. Barb mashed potatoes (I love mashed potatoes) and some lovely
flowers for the table. Vicki pecan & pumpkin pie, green bean
casserole, and asparagus. Karen mushrooms, cornbread dressing,
cherry tarts, and her famous whole cranberry sauce (which Earl forgot
to bring and was to leave a full plate of food to go back and
get..and it was worth it, I might add). The girls gave Dovie a by
since they were to arrive on Wednesday just before Thanksgiving and
would have little time to prepare...but as any good cruiser would,
was not going to be left out and prepared some yummy sweet potatoes.
 |
| Jim & Barb |
Dinghies started arriving about 1:00 and the
ladies set a table for the menfolk on the aft deck and a more formal
gathering in the main salon for the women's table. A buffet was set
on the counters and all were called to dinner. It was about the time
Earl finished piling his plate with food he discovered the missing
cranberry sauce. He stood staring at the turkey and dressing with a
forlorn, life without cranberry sauce is not worth living look on his
face for about 4 seconds and he was back in his dink headed to
retrieve Karen's sauce. And I have to say, after slathering my
dressing with Karen's cranberry sauce, I'm glad he did. As you can
well imagine, everything was delicious...and so were the seconds. As
a matter of fact the seconds were so good the turkey and sun slammed
Buck's eyes shut and he almost fell out of his chair before could
headed off for a nap back on Victoria Gaye.
However, the best thing at both tables was the
friendship, the warm conversation, and the sense of peace filled the
Salty Turtle to overflowing. That... my friends is what Thanksgiving
truly is. I wish you all peace, love, family, and friends.
 |
| At Anchor Titusville RR Bridge |
SeaSea:
My third Thanksgiving was a real surprise...and
a big one. It was 6:00 AM in the morning a few days after
Thanksgiving and I was on the head. Gigi was in the galley fixing
the morning coffee and had turned the VHF on. I thought, “that's
odd. Why the VHF this early?” but didn't give it another thought
and went back to business when I heard some one hailing the Salty
Turtle on the radio. Gigi said, “you need to get that. I
can't.” So...with pants at half mast I made my way up the steps to
the VHF and hailed the boat calling Salty Turtle. SeaSea
answered with a distinctive Georgian lilt to her voice, “Salty
Turtle this is SeaSea switch 17.” Where the heck did
SeaSea come from that's my cousin's boat? And it was
my sneaky cousin Stacy Brannon and her husband Paul passing thru Vero
on their way to join another boat in Stuart, FL. She and Gigi had
set this up as surprise...and it was. She literally caught me with
my pants down.
We had breakfast and a great visit before they
headed on South to Stuart. I love my family. Vero and two conniving
females had given me “family” for Thanksgiving...a really great
gift. But Stacy...I will not forgive you if you do this again and
don't stay with us on Salty Turtle. The V berth belongs to
you and Paul.
 |
| ICW Underway Making Way |
Plans:
We are currently at anchor in N. Lake Worth.
As weather permits, we will move on South to Ft. Lauderdale and will
stage either there or Miami for a crossing to the Bahamas as soon as
a window develops.
Fairwinds and Rum Drinks,
Vic Copelan
 |
| Vicki, Bob, Gigi, & Vic |
PS – Bob & Vicki of First Look, thanks
for taking the time to give us a visit. Your visit gave us yet another
Thanksgiving. May First Look be back in one piece soon and
you guys underway making way.
Note:
First Look was hit by lighting this summer and is under a major
refit.
