HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!!!

CELEBRATING INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

JULY 4TH!!   ....... always has special meaning to All Americans -- and sharing it with family and friends makes it all the more special -- Even when living aboard a used motor yacht at a marina!!!   Ed and I were married on July 3rd, 2010 at Herrington Harbour South Marina in North Beach, Maryland - What a Celebration they have for the 4th! -- Complete with Fireworks and games all day for the kids and the local politicians and the owner speaking about our Wonderful Country - America -- music all day long and at the end of the jetty flies Beautiful "Old Glory" and, of course, "God Bless America" is sung by everyone - and after the fireworks - everyone gives their applause from their boats for the evening celebrations with long blaring of their horns!!! 

Last year - Independence Day - 2011 - the entire marina 
was lively with dock parties celebrating the occasion and all the boat owners would prepare a special dish and all the boat owners and their guests would visit and sample everyone's dish.  This was our first year on our 53' Hatteras used motor yacht . My sister, Sherri, the Infamous Event/ Wedding Planner came up from Alabama with my nephew, Daniel, and we all set about preparing our tasty treats for everyone!  

 My sister and I had been planning for a few weeks and even had a sign made featuring "Southern Shrimp & Grits" 
                                                                                                               Doing it in Style when Sherri is around, we had every topping you could think of for the Grits, from Shrimp, Andalouie sausages, carmelized onions, Pesto, capers, hot sauce,       Cheeses, and more  - 
you created your own!  
That was a Huge Success!   We also created these Festive Strawberries - using white chocolate and blue sprinkles - boy were they yummy. (Even Captain Ed helped out with the strawberries - although I wonder how many he ate - ha!  No wonder we had to keep making more !!)    Then we topped off the menu with Drunken Watermelon Balls and Tangy Lemonade!  A good time was had by all ~ and we met many of our new neighbors as that was our first year on K Dock since we purchased our Hatteras used motor yacht.  Previously we were on F Dock in our 43' Swan used sailboat!!!  (Anyone interested in these yummy recipes, just comment at the bottom of this post!!)

 

We even got our Logbook out we had used for our wedding guest register and had all our visitors sign - so we could get to know everyone!  It was such great fun!

 

 But then as the cold weather started to return in the Fall - that is when we made the decision to leave this amazing marina and started planning our ICW Journey to Florida to our next Home!  We will definitely miss that wonderful Marina on the Chesapeake Bay!  But at least we made some lifelong friends while we were there for three years!  Ahhhhh the beauty of being a Liveaboard!!!  WE LOVE IT!     


Happy 4th!!!
First Mate -- Jan 

WE FINALLY MADE IT!!!!!

Good morning.      Well.... as you can see there has been some time since the last blog entry. That is wholly my fault. As my wonderful wife Jan knows, I am a procrastinator !!    I know she became frustrated with me at times......So, here we are, finally in Florida!   

OUR 43' SWAN -- S/V "THUMPER"

53' HATTERAS - M/V "JJFLYGIRL"

Yes, it took much longer than I originally estimated....Remember (if you have been following our blog), I came from a "sailing" background, most in "blue-water" The ICW was quite a challenge for me...there are many factors that entered this equation.....when sailing offshore, I knew what a used sailboat was capable of doing per day.....24/7.    Old "Thumper," our classic S&S Swan 43 typically averaged 140 miles /day.....she was and still is a great used sailboat. BUT, the ICW has it's own set of challenges.   Also, this Hatteras 53 used motor yacht was very new to us....and I did NOT push her at all.  I am not making excuses ... just how it all fell out.     The entire trip down the "ditch" was fun, and enlightening...But, it demonstrated to me some old personal