A Day on the Water Ends on the Tow Truck

Well, last week on one of the few sunny days we have had BJ and I decided to put the kayaks in the water and take a short trip.  We were at Carr Point FamCamp for NS Newport and there was a boat launch less then a mile away.   We were on the shores of Narragansett Bay and there was a large island with some homes on it about a mile off shore.  Between that island and shore was a small uninhabited island (Dyer Island) that BJ thought was a bird sanctuary.

Dyer Island Beaches

We launched the kayaks and got underway.  Water was calm and pretty clear, vis was about 15 feet into the water.  As we approached Dyer Island we could see the sea birds congregating on the rocky beach, it was low tide so a lot of beach! 
We never did land on the island but did circumnavigate it.   There was an unoccupied boat anchored about 60 ft off the north end of the island and the boat had a dive flag up.  Finally saw the bubbles but diver never surfaced while we were in that area.  Would like to know what he was diving for!

New born birds

There were some new born birds on the beach also.  They still had the gray furry looking cover rather then the feathers they will develop.   We decided not to go on to the larger island, Prudence Island, and paddled south of Dyer for a ways before heading back to the boat launch.



(Note: Not long ago I was looking at another Blog and I noted the pics were sideways and thought it odd.  Now I am having the same problem!  I have rotated them and saved them, renamed them and saved them and they are always in the correct alignment until I import them here and they are sideways as you can see.  Sorry about that.  I think it has to do with the native format of the camera I used. Will work on fixing the problem but for now you will need to twist your neck some to see the pics!)



It had been a nice hour and a half on the water, our first in several weeks.  It remained calm and sunny the whole time. 

So, when I go to get the Jeep to load the kayaks back on, it drives as if the brakes were stuck.  Took a lot of pedal to get it to move.  But, I got it down on the ramp and we loaded the kayaks.  It was obvious as I cleared the ramp there was a problem that was not going away.  It seemed the parking brake was hung-up but, the handle was down as it should be.  I recycled it several times to no avail!!  Finally we called Jeep for a tow since it was still under warranty.  The tow truck showed up quickly and took it to the local Jeep dealer.  They determined it was not the parking brake but the braking system we had installed for when it was being towed.  But, they did get it to release the brakes.  Several days later we found the problem, a malfunctioning piston that was improperly applying the brakes.  So alls well that ends well.

Jeep catching a ride!

Bottom line it was a nice day on the water and an interesting island to paddle around. 

Beyond Doomsday

Well we have survived our departure from the Conch Republic and 

Reorganizing the RV

returned to the Mainland!  We spent nearly a month in Melbourne getting work done on our bodies and our home!  Refrig was rebuilt and is doing great, annual maintenance was also accomplished along with some other minor items.  BJ and I saw the docs and they declared we were alive and well.  We reunited with a number of our Key West friends that left KW before and after us and made it to Patrick AFB for a layover.  As usual we did not get as much done as we hoped to.  Did not get over to O-town to see some friends, did not get in as much paddling as we wanted.  But, BJ put the finishing touches on the beautiful quilt she has been working on for the last several months and it is spectacular.  I managed to improve my carving techniques on our Trikke and started thinking of upgrading to the bigger model. We did a major repack/reorganization of the RV, especially the basements.  Got rid of stuff we had not used and moved other stuff around to more evenly distribute the weight in the coach.  And, had to do a major reorg of the storage unit where the few remaining worldly things we have that are not on wheels are stored!!  That chore was a day long job plus a little.  

We moved on to NS Mayport in Jacksonville to visit Garrett, our son, and Gary, my brother.  Also, spent the first several days getting the front tire on my Trikke repaired after it blew out right before we left Patrick.  Met the Trikke dealer here in Mayport.  His name is BJ, too.  Turned out he was the only Trikke dealer I could find that had some T-12 models like I wanted.  Other dealers had them back ordered until June, which presented a problem since we move so frequently.  So I got my new T-12 which made BJ, my spouse, happy because she does not have to share the T-78 with me anymore.  Anybody interested in Trikke's let me know and I will send you BJ, the Trikke guy's, contact info.

One of the benefits of the Famcamp at NS Mayport is you are looking out on the St John's River at the mouth of the Navy ship basin!  So you get to see the Navy ships come and go for their sea duty.

One of the US Navy Ships departing NS Mayport for sea trials

A sub moving back out to sea after a short visit to the ship basin

We have enjoyed our week+ here but we both agree we are ready to hit the road and do some serious traveling which we have not done since last November!!  We are leaving here for Lake Waccamaw NC for a family wedding.  Then we will head on toward RI where the grandkids and their handlers are but don't plan on getting that far north until Memorial day.  We will do some touring along the way at Richmond, Washington DC, Philadelphia and other points TBD!!

We will try to keep you posted, but if you sign up to follow the blog in the upper right corner of this page you will be notified automatically when there is a new posting.  Any questions let me know.

Doomsday is Today

Today we will be back on the Mainland again after four months in the Keys.  We got off to a cold start as December was the coldest month in recorded history.  However, the other months turned out to be very pleasant. 

We got in a lot of kayaking and explored some new territory.  We tried some new restaurants in the Keys and discovered some good food.  BJ fell in with a group of quilters and learned a lot about the craft she has always been interested in.  I got some diving in with some new dive buddies on some interesting reefs around Key West.  We enjoyed the camaraderie and activities in the RV park with new friends.

We started off at Long Key State Park until mid-December when we moved to NAS Key West and stayed there until early March when we moved up to John Pennykamp State Park as we prepared to start our summer travels.  We got in a good day of kayaking the Upper Keys and enjoyed the warm sunny days. 

We did visit the 2^nd oldest marine park in the US, Theater of the Sea in Islamorada.  The oldest was Marine Land south of St Augustine and no longer open to the public.   And, Theater of the Sea needs to do the same.  It is long in the tooth with old facilities, weak programs and the water is ugh!  And, they have an interactive program where you can swim in the water!!  Of course the gift shop is fully stocked with high price gadgets.  If they spent as much time on keeping the facility up as they do the gift shop it might be a better place.  Not recommended by us!

We did some geocaching  and enjoyed that and are really looking forward to doing that with Reagan, especially!  It is a world wide treasure hunt where people place “treasure” and then post the GPS coordinates on line for others to discover.  The treasurer is small boxes with little trinkets inside and we can see Reagan just having a great time figuring out what she is going to trade for.  If you take something, you have to leave something of equal or greater value.  Learn more at this website!  The picture to the right shows the view from one geocaching location I went to.  The cache is on the bench where I had it to sign the log.  I returned it to its hiding place after taking the picture!!

To the left here is a pic of another cache.  Look at all the treasures inside the box.  Reagan would have a ball!

I finished off our stay with a fabulous dive weekend.  On Friday afternoon did the Duane, a Coast Guard cutter sunk as artificial reef some 20+ years ago.  It is a great dive and it was followed by a dive on Pickles Reef and Snapper Ledge, two places loaded with reef fish.  Saturday AM we did a double dip (two dives) on the Speigel Grove, I large (510 ft) former Navy ship sunk as artificial reef  in 2002.  Then Sunday AM a dive on the Eagle, another Coast Guard cutter sank has an artificial reef in the 80’s.  However, about 6 years ago it was torn in half by a hurricane.  So it makes an interesting dive, the two parts are about 20 feet apart and the interior is wide open.  The weather for all 3 days/7dives was beautiful and viz was great and there was no current on any dive.  Conch Republic Dive Shop was up to its normal great standard.  Could not have had a better dive weekend!! 
So Monday we hit the mainland and head for our first stop – Melbourne for 3 weeks or so, then on to Jax to see Garrett and my brother, before we head to Carolinas for family wedding end of Apr.  After that we will spend some time on the road visiting DC and other points of interest arriving in Newport RI where Reagan and Addison and their handlers are.  After  a month there we will head West for a few years!! 
Keep in touch!!