Pedicab Man

Since I'm writing this you know our anchor and chain held in 5 knot current and 30 mph winds. Trouble is it took all the three of us could do this morning to get the sucker back in the boat. If had to do it twice I'd cut the line. Naturally, that idiot Scooter was no help.

That morning I loaded Scooter up in the tender for another poop run. He does a good job getting in and out of the tender with some shouted incouragement, "Get in the boat you frigging dumbo eared dog."

I put on 3 pair of sock, long johns, blue jeans, rain pants, nylon shirt, poly pro shirt, cotton shirt, fleece jacket, rain jacket, watch cap, bakalava and two pair of gloves. All this just for bed. Trust me, the cabin of this boat, inspite of running the generator and two ceramic heaters all night, never got above 55F.

Then later in the day she warmed up and we had a nice ride down to Thunderbolt, a suburb of Savanna, Ga. We reprogrammed the auto pilot for the Miami Stars' steering system and it worked much better today. Also encouraged by the generator which ran fine from 9:00 PM till 7:30 AM after the fuel filter change the night before.

Thunderbolt Marina is a impressive facility. They work on mega yachts and currently have a sloop rigged sailboat that is 150 feet long in their barn being rigged out for an Italian company.
Tonight we ate at Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster Barn owned by Paula Dean. If you don't know who Paula Dean is turn on the food channel. Their food was very good if you're into fried stuff. My salad and baked potato were great.

During the night one of the guards at Cabin Bluff turned on all the dock lights; we felt like a line-up. On the water at 8:15 in the AM.

Lots of wind during the day and we started in a light rain. Later it turned sunny and even though it was cold our spirits were better in the sunshine.

We called it a day early so that we would have a safe anchorage in the 20-30 mile winds due that night. Anchored at the juntion of Doboy Sound and North River in 25 feet of water about 200 feet off the shore. We asked a couple river-rats, who were fishing, if we could anchor in this spot which turned out to be stupid question because what would they care? The tide was really ripping when we anchored so I had to wait a couple hours before rowing Scooter to shore for his poop run. It was worth the wait because of the wonderful sunset you could see on the high dock we were anchored near.

Boat did well in high winds and ripping tide. Thirty feet on chain really nails the anchor to the bottom. Ran generator most of the night and boat got up to a balmy 60F.

Forget global warming, the weather forecast is crap. Next 5-6 days miserable. Why are we doing this thing? So it was time to change plans again [okay, you can stop laughing]. So after much discussion we are now headed back towards Charleston [notice I didn't say to charleston because with this crew you never know].

We passed St. Marys pass about 1:30 after a 9 am start. There is a submarine base in St. Marys so lots of security, we saw 2 Coast Guard boats with outboard motors [made in Japan] each with two fifty calber machine guns. when we passed the sub base a nice young man in an outboard boat asked our business and we told him we were heading north on the ICC and he said good luck and not to turn left into the base. We kept cooking.

At mile marker 700 the chart calls the area Cabin Bluff. There is a private retreat there that has a very nice dock which we pulled into but were told we could spend the night. I explained we were having fuel problems [mostly true since we've had to change fuel filters every day] and they let us spend the night.

After a dinner that I put together and a few drinks we cranked the generator which ran for about 20 minutes and crapped out because of clogged fuel filter. We said to hell with and went to bed at 8 pm. I could sleep worring about the generator and neither could Paddy so I was relieved when he got up about midnight to fix the generator problem which I helped him accomplish [not a bad job since the engine room was the warmest place on the boa].

Cabin Bluff is Woodbine, GA which is famous for CS Powder used in the Blue bombs dropped on the VC during that war [isn't chemical warfare againest the Geneva Convention?].

Paddy, his friend Eric, Scooter and I finally got going on our much awaited sailing trip. Naturally, it final turned winter here and was cold as hell. We looked like fat colorful snowmen by the end of the day. This is the defination of insanity.

Leaving the dock at St Marys was a circus. You should have seen my face when we were 50 feet from the dock and a knot in one of our dock lines caught in a cleet pulling us up short. After 3 tries we finally got all the docklines and Scooter on-board [after the first insident getting Scooter to go intailed lock him up below deck].

We were going to save money by anchoring out in Jacksonville but ran a ground and threw in the towel. good thing because it got down to 40F here last night and being plugged into the dock was a big bonus.

After dinner and drinks at the seafood shack here at the marina we solved the immagration problem with Mexico. Give them New Mexico, Arizonia, Southern California and West Texas. In six months you can go to Phoenix but won't be able to drink the water. But.....think of all those cheap trinkets and booze.

Jan Malloy aka Raccoon Lady took this picture of a boat from Sydney Australia. I pointed out that Dixie Jean didn't sound like a down-under name but then again only a crazy person would sail this boat that far so maybe it's true.

Jackson James Wallace aka Squeaky, Butterbean, Buddha Baby, at 18 pounds and 26 inches. Looks like offensive tackle material to me.

Go ahead and admit it: he's a good looking kid.

I'm trying to teach him the important things in life:

1. how to use the remote control.
2. how to make the perfect martini.

So far, the only thing he's got down is how to fill up a diaper; you have to deal with a lot of s--t to get a baby to 18 pounds, yuck. Actually, his mother has to deal with a lot of s--t, I'd throw up............

Purchased a new Lenovo lap top computer[use to be IBM Think Pad] and have new Verizon wireless broadband card installed [both manufactured in China, my eyes are starting to slant]. The wireless works good and was easy to install. Another bonus; got a state employee's discount on the service but had to buy Jennifer a new mobile phone [now, I'll be saving money with the discount in about 29 1/2 years].

It was a rainey night in Bama and I was driving Betty, my mom's 1962 Corvair and went through a small creek. Imagine my surprise when water started coming out the steering column. We ended up with a front floorboard and trunk full of water but she kept on trucking. I spent the night at my friend David Black's house and dried her out in the morning. No harm, no foul.

Later in the day, JR [my dad] was checking her out, as was his custom after I borrowed a car and screamed, "What the hell is this water doing in the headlight!"

In 1965 I got my dad's new Jeep Wagoneer stuck in a field of grass down in Lower Peach Tree, Alabama. We streached the winch cable all the way out of the housing trying to get it around a large oak tree but were a few inches short [story of my life]. Luckly for us ; the cable was long enough to go around a low limb on the same tree. Somehow I got the wench going but it wouldn't stop until it wenched the Jeep off the ground and stalled the engine. There was my dad's new Jeep Wagoneer wenched up in a tree; you could walk under the front wheels. When we cut the wench cable things were a little ugly. Naturally, I confessed my sin.......RIGHT.

Does it look like the wind is blowing 30 mph in this picture? The plan was to leave for the Keys on Tuesday but Paddy, Scooter and I headed back to Charleston from St Marys, GA and will try again next week.

Cold and wet is the pits...

Miami Star shown with Sea Nymph tied to stern. A dinghy is very important particular when you're on anchor and run out of rum.

My friend Kevin Kerns is pictured stealing my girlfriend. What a slut [her not him]. She'll just dump him for the next guy who happens to stumble in.

In the mean time, I'd love to have a camera if those two asses try to climb the same tree; hee, hee.

I've been working on the inside getting her ready to go. There were 20 years worth of spare parts; 3 spare anchors, spare sails etc. etc. etc. I cleaned out all the lockers and painted them. Also, purchased new cushions for the salon [that's saloon for my Irish friends] and painted kitchen, vee berth, settee area and rear cabin walls. Installed a new queen size bed in the rear cabin which is best money I've spent so far [$169.00 at Wal Mart and as good as the $700 mattress I sleep on at home]. I took out the old broke down reefer and have decided not to buy a new one at this time. I figure that she'll be on anchor in Charleston [no 110 power] or I'll have to buy ice when we're on the way, so a reefer won't get much work.

We've had warm weather here since early December; you'll know when we are leaving because it will get cold as hell.

Guitar Man was looking for a big money night on New Years Eve at the Market in Charleston.

He was in Ashville over Christmas were a carpenter helped in finalize plans for his hoovercraft [God loves Guitar Man].

Yea.......I love him too.

Jack and I have a FREE cup of java at Starbucks and then take a nap while Scooter is on guard duty.

Did you know that Starbucks will not give change for a $100 dollar bill? I've learned that if you claim to have only a $100 bill and stand around looking a little stupid they'll give you a free coffee to get you out of the way [I figure my standing around looking stupid is worth $40 on a hourly rate].