South Port, North Carolina

We be in Southport, North Carolina now Baby. Tessa be bookin'.

Quick Update

After a nice reunion at Vero Beach with our friends Tom and Lynette on Por Fin, we turned in early in preparation of the trip to St. Augustine Tuesday morning. We were warned, yet still unprepared for the what was to come that night. Vero Beach is a wonderful place with one exception. NO-SEEUMS! Other cruisers carry separate, very fine screens specifically to protect from no-seeums at Vero Beach. Last fall, I got about a dozen bites, but we remember now tha we had all the hatches closed due to cold weather. Monday night, it was hot and humid. I had been alternating skin-so-soft and "Off" all day in order to avoid any chance at bites. We had happy hour on Tessa with Por Fin and some new cruisers who have a Gulfstar 44, and as soon as the sun began to set, I locked myself down below. However, we did have hatches open with our normal screens up for air circulation. The biting rat-bastards woke us both in the middle of the night. "GO SPRAY YOURSELF DOWN AND CLIMB BACK UNDER THE SHEETS FAST!" Gary urged. I quickly closed the hatches and doused myself with Cutter 50% Deet. The light in our stateroom revealed hundreds of them covering the headliner. My worst nightmare! I pulled the sheet up over my head and prayed maybe they weren't the no-seeums that I am so allergic to. Maybe they are some other kind of insect. Maybe...... The next morning, the bumps were already forming into blisters. By afternoon, I was covered with countless bites literally from head (scalp) to toe.I dreaded what was in store for me for the next four days. I know the cycle all to well. It takes a half a day before all the the blisters appear. The next forty eight hours are pure hell. They itch horribly and burn and hurt all at the same time, and are especially aggravated by heat or sun. As my body reacts to fight the poisons, I experience alternating chills and feverish symptoms and nausea. I am absolutely miserable. Poor Gary feels my pain yet knows there is nothing he can do to help. I've tried everything that every pharmacist recommends with no relief. I've done research on internet sites, where the best advise is simply to avoid areas where they are. No magic remedies. The first no-seeum attack a few years ago, I sought medical care and was prescribed steroids. We tossed the pills aside after we read the side affects and decided I was better off just suffering through the discomfort. Yesterday afternoon, Gary suggested that fishing might keep my mind off the discomfort. "Big Chuck" had the Hoo Lili lure, the rod Cuzzin Debbie and Mike donated to Tessa had a balleyhoo lure. No hits before dark, but as I reeled in Mike's rod, a big fish hit the balleyhoo, broke the water, did a back flip, and bit off the lower half of the lure.....right below the hook! Gary was right! I didn't itch for the entire sixty seconds it took to miss this fish! Now, we are at a dock in St. Augustine, hatches closed tight and air conditioning running to sooth the burning and itching. The dockmaster confirmed that they do have no-seeums here....but only of the wind stops blowing. I may just have to be content experiencing St. Augustine by reading my Waterway Guide from our bunk. Life is still good, this is just a bump (pardon the pun) in the road.

We're Having Fish Tonight!!!

Ahoy fellow fishermen and women! Yesterday I caught the first deep sea fish to be brought successfully on board and onto the fillet board. Today I prepared a Tahitian style ceviche that we had numerous times on our honeymoon in Tahiti. Raw tuna marinated in lime juice, then mixed with diced tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, covered with coconut milk. Served with crusty french bread for sopping up the sauce. We are definitely livin the dream! At Vero Beach, tomorrow heading north back out on the Atlantic up to Saint Augustine. There we will rent a car and drive back down to West Palm to pick up crew. Better to have Tessa as far north as possible to continue toward NY with crew. Love to all, Lori

Tessa Update from Marathon

We are still in Marathon waiting for these ferocious 25-30 knot winds to subside. As the saying goes "Marathon is a nice place to visit but we wouldn't want to live here!" Tomorrow looks favorable for a first light departure, arriving in Stuart Sunday afternoon if all goes well. Our friend Jage lives there, and she has kindly offered her car to pick up Myassis Dragon and his brother in West Palm on Friday the 23rd. We have even discussed blowing by Stuart if the weather window is comfortable early this coming week and getting as far north as Fernandina Beach, then renting a car and driving down to pick the crew up. The days of favorable conditions, we are learning, are few and far between! We have been following our "new best friends" Jon and Shawna on their beautiful Formosa 50 all the way from the Dry Tortugas. They are our new best friends for a number of reasons. First because they are absolutely wonderful people with very similar tastes in fun, food, and wine. Secondly (but more importantly I'm thinkin to Captain Gary) is the fact that they draw 6 1/2 feet, which is a lovely 6 inches more than we draw!!!! Every time we weigh anchor, we do the polite thing and insist that they go ahead of us. While weathered in, we have made the best of it by eating lots of sushi, stone crab claws, and key lime pie, accompanied by some fine wines and dark chocolates. How good is this??? Our best to everyone following the adventure, Lori & Captain Gary

Runnin' to Marathon

We are in the Keys and have cellphone service. Will be in Marathon tonight.

Dry Tortuga Martini

Gary, Lori and Tessa departed Ft. Meyers Beach on April 4th and headed to the Dry Tortugas. Lori borrowed a Satellite phone and called her sister Cindy to let them know they had made it safely. The plan is for them to be in Marathon this weekend.

Tracy & Diane

I stepped out on deck this morning to a glorious blue sky, warm sun, and a gentle breeze….for the second day in a row! But instead of jumping for joy and screaming HALLELUJAH, I stared at an empty mooring ball and shed a few tears. Tracy, Diane, and FAITH were gone. We had a bon voyage dinner on board TESSA last night. When I went back down below this morning, I found Diane’s lovely goodbye note, appropriately written on the lyrics to our favorite song. Next I saw the weekly Thursday night pizza party invitation that Trace left me, handing over the baton as boater’s social director. Gary came out of our stateroom and looked at my tears with concern. “I miss them already” I explained. He just smiled. Shortly after we met Trace and Diane last December, we ran into them in the Matanzas parking lot. Trace was happily unloading some great bargain wine he had found. Not just a bottle or two, but at least a dozen 1.5 liter bottles. “We’re going to get along great!” I announced. And so our friendship began. We learned that we have an amazing amount of interests in common. Sailing, naturally, but also good books, funny movies, good food, cheap wine, and the pursuit of the cheapest happy hour. Diane and I share the same hometown. Most importantly we all share a love of adventure and laughter. A lot of the laughter caused by Trace ripping on me at any opportunity, at which he became very good. Recently I asked Trace if we knew the new mooring ball arrival, a boat named BULLSHIP. “Yeeeahh, I’d expect you know them, you’ve a lot in common with their boat!” he replied and then couldn’t resist complimenting himself on his insult. Even though I am usually the brunt of his cutting Brit wit, I think I enjoy it the most. Trace and Diane are avid cyclists, and met during a cycle trip through Thailand. “Yeeeahh, I fancy that!” he muttered when he first laid eyes on her. He was on his way home to England, and he inquired where Diane was heading. Vietnam was her next destination. “That’s funny! That’s where I’m going!” he lied. Off they went, and have continued on their journeys together for sixteen years. They’ve cycled all over the world, and spend part of the year living on their river boat on the Thames. Diane is a lockmaster there. Trace runs a business finishing fine furniture and antiques. Winters they enjoy here in the states spending some time in Dayton with Diane’s family, then cruising on their sailboat “Faith”. Another commonality we share is the driving need to socialize. It didn’t take long before Trace began coordinating social events for the Matanzas Pass boating community, and bartering with the local merchants for volume discounts. Gary and I volunteered to co-hosts these events, since Diane was busy running Matanzas Inn front desk five days a week. Our first event was a New Years Eve oyster party, which Trace dubbed a “Slurp-n-Burp”. About twenty of us slurped over 240 oysters. We were in mollusk heaven! The next event was a grilled Shrimp fest, which was such a success we were asked to host a few more. It was at one of these parties that we got into a bit of trouble. Diane had printed off the lyrics to “Don’t Forget Your Old Shipmates” and after a few toddies, everyone felt inclined to gather round and have a boisterous sing-along. A little too boisterous, we were told the next day by Matanzas management. Even though we were properly chastised, it didn’t diminish the gleeful camaraderie we felt that night, a memory not to be forgotten by any of our merry band of boaters. Who can forget the Thursday night pizza parties at the best Fort Myers pizzeria, Surf Pie? Trace negotiated with the owners Tony and Lori. Or I should say beat Tony up for an incredible price of $5.00 per person for all-you-can-eat eat pizza. Trace has to nickname everything, and this became referred to as “Piranha Pizza Night”, appropriately so after witnessing the speed at which boaters can consume mass quantities of pizza just to be sure they get their money’s worth. Trace doesn’t admit to regularly attending happy hour. It’s called “going for a sherbet”, which does in fact sound more innocent when your wife is at work while you are at Doc Fords with a $1 Yuengling draft. We shared many a sherbet together. One evening, the boys had a few too many sherbets and both ended up in the drink. Once we knew no one was injured, and I knew Gary’s new cell phone was safe, Diane and I could only laugh as we helped dry them off. We cooked the most fantastic meals together. The four of us love bold, spicy, adventurous recipes, and we took turns trying to outdo each other’s culinary skills. The best type of competition! There are no losers when you are eating good food with good friends! It won’t be the same around here without hearing Trace shout out “Hey Swabs!” as we dinghy up to visit on FAITH. He fancies himself to be a British version of Captain Ron, and decided he is “Super Swab”. I don’t know how long I can go on without a good dose of Diane’s ever present optimism. She just recently gave me a talking to about embracing the weather, as there is nothing you can do to change it. I told her I wished she had lectured me sooner since I spent most of this winter p*$#*d off at Mother Nature. There will be an empty place in our days, and our hearts, here at Matanzas without our buddies on FAITH. Diane’s goodbye note said she is sure we will see each other again. We’re sure we will too, whenever it is meant to be. We have faith!