Plain Jane Plain Talk
Journals from the road, trails and at sea
Category: 2010 Adventures
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For months, Captain Paddy informs me “it’s coming”. He is referring to our least favorite time of year — called winter. I know what you’re thinking. Paddy has amazing insights ’bout the coming of the “seasons”. The nuances of weather are amplified when you are engaged in an extended camping trip – on a catamaran.…
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It was 1:34 AM, inside a deep sleep when Soxy and I bolted to a wide-eyed upright position. The noise was deafening and I shook Paddy to wake him. Paddy sleeps thru any weather condition, and I didn’t want him to miss out. It sounded like a freight train. The same sound we’ve experienced before…
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Here are ideas for Cat Maudy’s mast re-design. Problem: How to modify the design of the top of our mast, so that Cat Maudy can easily navigate under 65′ bridges on the ICW without having to hoist one of the captains 63 feet above the water to remove “gear” that adds 2 or more feet…
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In the sleepy town of Reedville VA, located near the southern end of the mouth of the Potomac River the main industry is the Menhaden fish factory. During processing-hours (i.e. all day long) it smells like dead fish irregardless of which way the wind is blowin’. The locals say you get used to it, but…
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Winds 15-20 from the NW, with gusts to 25 is Captain Paddy’s ideal world. Only one foil heading our way…rains and gale force winds to kick and could we sail to Reedville VA before the weather intensifies? Departing Annapolis harbor by 8AM, and we wasted no time raising the main sail, and turning off the…
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After a failed departure attempt on Friday…Saturday’s departure from Baltimore proved more successful. The winds have subsided from gale force – and we will have a leisurely, no hurry sail south to Annapolis. Leisurely it is. Highest speeds are 6 knots…and by the time we reached the Chesapeake Bay Bridge…we had slowed to 1.5 knots.…
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Now that the rainy portion of Tropical Storm Nicole has moved north of Baltimore – we are left with her gale force tailwinds. Strangely I was game for a sail to Annapolis. We waited til noon – giving me ONE LAST EXERCISE OP and the gale winds a chance to subside based on professional weather…
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With a focus on triathlons, the tri sista hood has not put skates on in nearly a year. 3 weeks ago, Jilly and I decided to dust off, and lace up the Bont skate boots…. Yes, there was boot pain. Our feet were screaming. Yes, we moved slowly. Yes, old ladies walked faster than we…
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After 60 days of scorching temperatures over 90 degrees in the mid-Atlantic, a typical shortage of summer winds (which would have been too hot anyway), an exercise regimen that included 5 sprint triathlons and a host of other excuses (oh yeah – WORK!) – Labor day weekend changed all of that. Temperatures plunged into the…
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Headline News: Iron Girl Triathlon Team Sistahood completed the journey on Sunday 8/22/2010 (swim, bike, run) and are now a bunch of Iron Girls… (yes, it rained…thank you for asking!). Woo hoo!!! And, for those of you who want details….here it is: Iron Girl is a women’s only sprint triathlon, held every August in Columbia…
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In 1978, Minh, escaped from Vietnam on an over sized rowboat with no life vests and no idea how to swim. Determined to learn to swim at the age of 50 – she decided to tackle the Hagerstown Maryland Sprint Triathlon. Minh stares at the water from the edge of the pool. But first,…
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It is 6:30AM, and Paddy and I are busy prepping for the Piseco Lake Triathlon. Paddy remarks this would be a good sailing day. Translation — it’s windy. The wind gods were ignoring my pleas for calm waters. As we sat on the campsite picnic table – looking out over the waterfront – there was…
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It’s been a month since we last sailed. Many days passed with lighter than normal winds, higher than normal temperatures, and a swelter factor that was beginning to feel like mid-August. Add an infusion of triathlon training and working for a living…and we were beginning to think that sailing was a thing of the past.…
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Bundled in cold weather gear, we left our mooring in Annapolis in hopes of a slow sail into B’more. But alas, NO wind at all. Not even a smidge. It’s all good. We motored the last 30 miles of Our Big Adventure – back into familiar territory. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge, the Magothy River, Bodkins…
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Rest days. Yeah right. You think you need a day of rest from a big sailing adventure, cuz you’re a tad weary, and wake up the next day to discover that the winds are favorable. It would be a sin to waste favorable winds…on rest. Time to prep the boat — for sailing. We departed…
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After 700 miles of offshore sailing during our “return to the north”, it’s hard to imagine that our most robust sail of the journey (to date) occurs on home territory. The Chesapeake Bay. We departed downtown Norfolk at 6:15AM, and spent the next two hours motoring to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. We had…
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The Waterside Marina is located in the heart of “tourist trap” downtown Norfolk. We love being tourists – and this is becoming one of our favorite layover stops. There is no shortage of restaurants, easy access to grocery and the weekends are filled with free concerts, wine tasting festivals and art vendors. It doesn’t seem…
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for tall masted sailboats Every time we approach one of these 65′ fixed bridges, with our 63.5′ air draft, it appears we won’t clear…until inches before potential contact with the bridge. If only someone would take notes – so that we could have some feel as to whether the measuring stick is accurate, or the…
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Coinjock NC to Norfolk VADeparting CoinJock at 7AM should give us plenty of time to arrive into Norfolk by late afternoon. This final section of the Inside Passage is marked with 3 fixed 65′ bridges, numerous drawbridges, and a lock. We exited from the stump laden land cut, and entered our widest body of water…
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Belhaven NC (approx) to CoinJock NC It is slated to be a sweltering 90 degree day, plenty of sun, light winds and muggy. We moved into position at 6:30AM under our new “bimini shades”, glad to know that we will no longer be scorched by the sun. The line of cruisers had started. We are…
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Swansboro to Belhaven NC (approx)Up at 5:30AM we had the engines crackin’ at 6 – and started moving Cat Maudy northward. Our first fixed 65′ bridge was lined up for low tide. Yeah right. I’m not sure what’s up with the tide tables, but we keep finding that low tide is really closer to high…
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Wrightsville Beach to Swansboro, NCThere are two natural body of water wonders to choose from, when navigating by boat up and down the eastern seaboard. One, on the outside – from the ocean. And the other – on the inside – the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW). The ICW isn’t always majestic, or even natural for…
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It isn’t yet “prime time” at Wrightsville Beach – but you would never know it by the number of beachgoers and boaters. Anyone who owned a boat….or related to someone who owned a boat…or just grabbed mom -n- dad’s boat for the day – were out lookin’ for “action” on the ICW. Sunday. A weekend…
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We departed Bald Head Island at 7AM hoping to get beyond the Cape Fear shoals before the seas grow. About a mile and a half offshore….heading straight into the swells…the ‘queazies’ took over. Cat Maudy pitched into the swells. Over and over. This would go on for 2+ hours. I tried staring at the horizon…but…
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All set for a 75 mile day hop to the mouth of the Cape Fear River – we hoped for the best – without having our trusted sources of weather info guiding us. We assumed, the weather forecast is the “same” as yesterday. 10-15 mph winds from the southwest – with more of the gusty…
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Southwest winds 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 in the afternoon. That was the forecast. The weather folks weren’t kidding about those gusts. We departed the Charleston Maritime Center at 7:30AM. Charleston is one of my favorite ports, and I was having mixed feelings about leaving. But, we had to take advantage of each and…
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While strong thunderstorms and near gale force winds may have put an ending to Charleston’s Blessing of the Shrimp Fleet — it left room for Plan “B” — a relaxed and shrimp laden afternoon with our Charleston friends Cindy and Bruce. A walk along the pier under the Ravenel Bridge made it clear why the…
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Still groggy from lack of sleep….I dragged my bod off of the Mega Dock…and over to the nearest tennis court for an hour of singles, followed by another hour of doubles. Chasing a little ball around the court, and trying to focus on hitting it with the racket strings was a bit of a challenge…
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Our forecasted weather window of lite westerly breezes has morphed into winds from the north – for the second day. The bad news…is the winds are from the north, and we won’t be sailing. The good news…is that the winds are light – so we motor sail. We depart our mooring in Fernandina Beach with…
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With a 4-day unheard of weather window, we were jones’n to make 4 consecutive day hops…to Charleston SC. I had plenty of time to triple check the weather before we departed at daybreak. That’s because the anchor alarm started blaring at 3AM. Our software “thought” we had moved from our anchored position….but really we hadn’t…
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Captain Paddy takes a break from sailing…to provide a history lesson on St. Augustine, FL. St. Augustine has been a US city for a LONG time. A very LONG time. This is a very very very OLD city. Get it? View this Paddy video classic.
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Somewhere around 11:30am….3 full hours into a deep sleep upon arrival in St. Augustine…we awoke to a huge BOOM that shook the boat. Being at anchor, it was easy to imagine the worst. We were anchored close to barges, cranes and bridges….maybe Cat Maudy dragged anchor and hit one of these beasts? Or, maybe another…
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I’ve come to the conclusion that Ft. Pierce is a foul weather abyss. Expect endless days of easterly winds and pounding seas. You know you’re desperate for a sailing weather window, when you consider going offshore in conditions that previously would have been unacceptable. So, here are the options. Saturday. One day. One 24 hour…
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After 5 days at anchor, I wondered if Cat Maudy had sprouted a new “home port”. Ft. Pierce, Florida. Earlier in the week, with 2 ocean sail, back to back hops —(1) Ft. Lauderdale to Lake Worth (45 miles), and(2) Lake Worth to Ft. Pierce (60 miles)– it looked as if Cat Maudy was cruising…
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I have a few rules when it comes to sailing offshore. One, is NEVER travel on “weather transition” days. “Never” seems pretty strong. Mostly “never”. These are the days where the winds are clocking around to a new wind pattern. For example, if winds start out in the AM from the South….and are predicted to…
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Cat Maudy’s leak is fixed…and we are ready to move on. She is launched back into the water at 10AM… Slack tide is 10:30AM. It couldn’t be better timing for one more trip on the New River through downtown Ft. Lauderdale. We learned our lesson navigating INBOUND on the New River. This time, I checked…
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The Lauderdale Marine Center boat yard is filled with the largest yachts you can imagine. Well over 100 feet in length. Most of these yachts are larger than a 3000 sq foot home – 4 and 5 stories tall. The yard is a buzz with hundreds of contractors and servants – to the owners of…
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The New River in Ft. Lauderdale is touted as the American version of waterways and channels in Venice. If this is true, then I will scratch off my bucket list any attempt to ride the river boats in Italy. The New River is not designed for mega yachts, sightseeing paddle boats…or even catamarans for that…
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After sailing to Ft. Lauderdale on a leaky boat – we had safely made it to our anchorage in Lake Sylvia, near the Port Everglades inlet. The magic kick-butt pump pushed out the incoming water, before you had time to notice the water level in the engine compartment was rising. We now had to wait…
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When Captain Paddy broke the news that Cat Maudy had sprung a leak…and water was coming in — I admit my first thought was getting OFF the sinking ship. Sure enough, all of the little seals that are used to keep the water OUT of the engine compartment – BROKE – and now water is…
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At some point, you realize you’ve become acclimated to extreme weather. Floridians do this all the time during hurricane season. When they are not lined up 100 deep in checkout lines at Home Depot, gas stations and stores that sell ice. OK…maybe Floridians are not as acclimated as I think. Today’s forecast – called for…
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Love to water ski and don’t own a boat? Get a kite! Kite skiing appears to be the most self-reliant method to go skiing whenever you like (assuming you have some wind) – and where ever you want to go. This kite skier – who navigated through the mooring field missing tall sailing masts and…
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A bicycling advocate was surely on the “design committee” when Miami metro rail was first proposed. It is practically impossible to ride your bike on the roads in Maimi. Having lived in NYC and metro-DC, I can assure you that Miami drivers win the gold medal for “I drive – and am in a huge…
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With temperatures in the mid 70’s, steady breezes from the south, and waters begging for fishing, our day at Boca Chita Key transformed into “Island Time”. Let me explain how “Island Time” works. You wake up in the AM….look at your overstuffed inbox, stare at your ambitious workout schedule, spin thru the many phone calls…
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A trio of ‘cats (Chateau, MakeItSo and Cat Maudy) left the Dinner Key mooring field early Tuesday morning to capture a sweet westerly breeze. The 2 hour sail south to Boca Chita Key is easy sailing thanks to the flat waters of Biscayne Bay. Big seas on a big ocean are way overrated. Give me…
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After 6 months of mother nature filling her cheeks and blowing wind from the north with all her mighty might, Mama “N” is finally tapped out. It’s as if a switch has gone off, and she took a moment to look at the calendar. And, just like that – the weather patterns changed. We’ve waltzed…
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While waiting for Paddy to locate “stuff” at the West Marine boat store…I wandered aimlessly, and ended up in the fishing pole section. Dozens of macho brown and grey colored expensive fishing poles are on display. A large chain lashes them together, and locks them securely to the store. Behind the maze of pricey poles,…
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Biscayne Bay (BB) I often wonder if the “roaring 40’s” — a latitude of 40-50 degrees with huge winds in the Southern Ocean — have migrated north. To Miami. There is no shortage of wind in northern Biscayne Bay. We spent two days peering at the wind gauge – and monitored steady 35 knots (40MPH),…
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After studying the weather for hours, we came to the conclusion that it was anybody’s guess. All week, the forecast for each day couldn’t be further from accurate. We assumed when the forecast called for light air….then it would probably be a nice windy day to sail to Key Largo. Key Largo is 35 miles…
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Our Dinner Key mooring ball neighbor Tom stopped by today on his dinghy. Earlier in the week, Tom had shared his ‘fresh catch’ with us – a bag filled with raw fish fillets. I cooked it with a lemon herb rub, and we had it for breakfast. Hard to believe this is “fish”. Hands down…
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No visit to Miami would be complete without spending a few hours in South Beach. Paddy left me in charge with figuring out the transportation route and scheduling. “Great – let’s ride our bikes 30 miles to South Beach and back.” I suggested. Paddy gives me a blank-look “what are you out of your mind?”…
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If paradise resembles anything like Gilligan’s Island, I’m pretty sure we found it. Boca Chita Key is just 15 miles south of downtown Miami. It is also part of the northern Florida Keys — a 180 mile expanse of submerged coral reefs and islands. If you want to drive your car thru the Keys, you’ll…
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After staring at our computers, and each other for most of the morning – it was time to tackle a large dose of humanity – at the 47th annual Coconut Grove Arts Festival (CGAF). With the winds gusting to 30knots from the southwest – a soggy dinghy ride with 3 foot waves was out of…
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70 MPH of wind is a TAD above GALE Yet, the weather forecast images took on a rainbow of colors, and a range of numbers we had not seen before from our unprotected anchorage on Biscayne Bay. Surely the “70” listed on Weather.com website was a typo. Just to be safe, we removed anything from…
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May the jet stream return,to where it’s supposto go,so your workouts can burn,without shoveling snow
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From my brief debut in The Checket Cup Tennis Tournament .. I realized that with just a “few” modifications, “tennis” could become a very aerobic, and entertaining sport – irregardless of your skill. Here are my suggestions: First, TENNIS gets an aerobic makeover. Maybe something like: you are required to jog in place between points…
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The winds are calm and there is a light ripple tickling the hull as the sun fades to the west. I check my voice messages. “Hey Jane – can you play in a Cat II National Championships 45 & Over doubles tournament in Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow? A player had to default…and you can substitute in.…
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Our mooring neighbor Captain Tom Mestrits at Dinner Key Marina, invited us for a sailing tour of upper Biscayne Bay along Key Biscayne on his John Shuttleworth 40′ catamaran. It was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. Tom has “local” knowledge of Biscayne Bay, and has modified / fine tuned his cat for racing (with…
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After researching Bayside in downtown Miami – we decided that the marketplace was far too tourista for our tastes, with strip and shopping malls identical to those found anywhere in the US. Restaurants such as Hard Rock Cafe, Bubba Gump and block after block of Starbucks was not the experience we were craving. We can…
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Living on a mooring ball, 1 mile from land out in Biscayne Bay requires some strategy and forward thinking when making trips to land. Like checking the weather. I live “in the moment”. A newbie at living at anchor, and commuting to land. So, as we rode the dinghy to shore early Saturday morning –…
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With weeks of pent up endorphin excitement….the 3 day weekend visit of Big Bro and tri-partner Fluffy finally arrived. We spent the weekend desperately seeking (and finding) ‘dorphins and had a whole lotta fun….. …avoiding stinkeye…getting your load on…searching for iguanas…avoiding alligators…getting your load off…parking lot dancing to disco music in “downtown” Boca…eating foods that…
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It’s a rare moment when Captain Pat and I agree on sailing conditions. For example, 6′ seas are a tad large to me, while Captain Pat doesn’t bat an eye. Alternately, 10-15 knot winds is ideal for me, and generally not enough to move the boat for Captain Pat. We spend a LOT of energy…
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Somewhere near the Hillsboro Inlet, we noticed our starboard engine shaking violently. Not a good time to be down an engine – when trying to navigate in narrow waterways, wait for drawbridges to open…and contend with strong tidal currents. We were down to one engine, and I had my finger on the VHF ready to…
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What is boat life like? Pure luxury, champagne all around…and a life a leisure right? I’ll let you know when that happens. In the meantime….I use the binoculars and my zoom-in camera to check the bridge marker every 30 minutes starting at 8:30AM. We need the marker to read 65′ or more (simply because we…
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Irregardless of your views about global warming, I can assure you from a “water” or boating standpoint — that either one of two items are happening along the ICW: a) either the folks who design and construct the bridges can’t do basic math orb) the water levels are rising. Let me ‘splain. FIXED bridges…that span…
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With temperatures NOW in the upper 20’s and low 30’s…ocean coastal sailing in our open cockpit is downright unappealing. We decided to “drive the ditch” to the next inlet (Lake Worth) – and see if the weather might be any better. To do so, someone has to climb the mast – and bring down all…
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While waiting on the right weather window in Ft Pierce Florida – we took the opportunity get caught up on Cycon work, monitor every detail of the weather, and tour the local landmarks. Local landmarks include: – the Publix supermarket – West Marine – the marina laundromat – Fort Pierce Inlet State Park Which one…
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Apparently Canada is MAD at the US. I’m guessing it’s something we said. All of the cold air that normally stays in Canada for the winter — is now on permanent loan to Florida. With no end in sight for the frigid temperatures in central and southern Florida – we decide to depart Cape Canaveral,…
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All weather forecasts were predicting 4-6′ waves out of Cape Canaveral. Seemed a bit large for my ‘weenie sailor’ comfort zone, so we opted to wait for calmer seas. In the meantime, I had to SEE what these 4-6′ waves looked like…up close…in person. Time for power walk to Jetty Park – located at the…
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As the citrus crops in Florida get a week of record freezing temperatures – we are, in the midst of central Florida, trying to go south…and stay warm. It is obvious at this point, that I packed the wrong set of clothing for this trip. It’s also obvious, that this year — south means Brazil.…
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Should the NASA program at Cape Canaveral ever get scuttled, the town of Titusville FL would most likely disappear. Not that there is much town here to begin with! Some elements of Titusville, have already moved on. The Post Office for example. Don’t waste your time looking for a mailbox here. When the Post Office…
Plain Jane Plain Talk 