Sailing: Thursday January 15th

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Thursday January 15th

After reading through some of the boat manuals, we have decided to play it safe and spend one more day at Palm Coast Marina

and have arranged for a mechanic to come this afternoon and give Argo a complete physical, checking for leaks in the transmission.

In the mean time, we have walked back to ´Little Italy´ and are sitting at an outdoor cafe in the piazza. It is sunny but brisk here today. We have been hearing weather reports from Canada and we all agree that we are much happier being in a climate where we can at least sit outside in comfort.

It is also a perfect day for kayaking and some elderly but spry seniors paddle by on their way to explore the area.
Tomorrow we will head south once again with a destination of New Smyrna Marina.
Later the same day -
We are back at the cafe, as the mechanic has failed to materialize. We are becoming increasingly pessimistic about having Argo in shipshape, ready to depart on the morning tide. It is more likely that we will be landlocked here for a few days. It seems the trades are working on ´Island Time´ here.

Emails from home are reporting record cold temperatures, so although it is far from balmy here, we can´t help but smile at our good fortune of being out of Canada and away from Winter´s cruel blasts.

Historical Sidebar Beaufort South Carolina

Founded in 1711,Bearfort is a popular ICW stopover and a history buff's dream. Many of the town's majestic homes are visible from the water, high on the green banks that edge the town side of the river. Most of the antebellum plantation houses have been restored, but others remain in ruins as monuments to halcyon days when silks, indigo, rice and Sea Island cotton created vast fortunes for landholders hereabouts. Live oak trees through the city are magnificent in their size and shape. Given this panorama, it is small wonder that Hollywood studios made several movies here, including 'The Big Chill' and 'The Princeof Tides'.

Historical Sidebar - Charleston South Carolina

Founded in 1670 by the British, Charles Towne soon welcomed French Huguenots who imparted the Creole flavor that still colors the area. Charleston today is a city of pastel houses and tidy brick-walled gardens behind lacy iron gates. Much of the city's beauty stems from hard times. In the years following the Civil War, little building or demolition occurred in depression-gripped Charleston. While other cities tore down their old structures to build Victorian houses, Charlestonians had to make do, fighting to keep the buildings they already had from decaying. Because of this, Charlestonians are fiercely protective of their town and its heritage.