Progress, Always Progress!

I love saying that! PROGRESS!!! It means we are moving forward.

After 10 days post-op, I even took the camera outside at 7am this morning, to photograph the lovely morning light on the boats and water around us. It was not QUITE what my minds eye saw because I couldn't maneuver the way I needed to, to capture the perfect shot, but I hope you will forgive me for that and enjoy the crisp morning view. Cant really be beat!
There are a few of us old crocks in the Marina right now. The fellow in the boat to the left, there, had spinal surgery on Tuesday, and though we have seen him out with his walker twice, he is apparently in more pain than pre -surgery. According to his lovely wife, this was to replace hardware (rods,screws etc) that had been in there for some years and were now causing him grief. She warned us to not get upset if we heard him cry out or 'other', which I took to mean 'swearing':).
And then there is Larry. I had spoken to his lovely wife Lena, the day before my surgery, to find out if there was anything I needed to know that would help me afterwards. Larry, at this stage, was 2 weeks post-op, Total Hip Replacement. He had a set back or two because he felt able to do more than he should have :) so I was told to do as the PT person recommended and to let the bones heal and not to rush things. Good advice! Larry isn't a sit around person, a bit like myself, and at Thanksgiving, he was running around like a 2 yr old, at just 3 weeks post-op. I was enthused, though I was in some discomfort, sitting in not very comfy seats, during our Marina get-together to mark the occasion...Thanksgiving, that is.

I cant say enough good about the lovely folks here. They are so concerned and encouraging. We have had soup delivered from Pam (ex-Brunswick Marina), which Waz thoroughly enjoyed in my absence, fruit and visits. Maryanne and George, whom we have just met, stopped by with half a pumpkin Pie on Thanksgiving Day...she thought a whole one looked a bit much for a convalescent! lol...They keep dropping by to offer encouragement. All the neighbors on the dock give me the thumbs up when we are out walking...I say 'WE' because I am not allowed out on my own. We don't want to fall into the water on either side of the not very wide dock!  I have had all the whoopsies in that department that I am ever going to have!!!

My new PT guy, Fernando, is excellent. He tells me the physiology of everything we are doing for strength, and he even made me do some upper body weights on Friday. I am a weakling in that department!

I hate taking drugs, and I have refused the narcotics in favor of Over-The-Counter drugs such as Extra-strength Tylenol which are 500mg ea. and 600mg per tablet of Ibuprofen. I have to take a blood thinner until the 10th Dec...10 days before the next surgery...but it means I bruise easily, so I have large bruises up the back of my legs where I have sat for a bit long with an upholstery cording digging into the back of my knee...who woulda thunk?

I have been on stool softeners...the Surgeon kept asking me if I had had a bowel movement yet!!! I wasn't worried about it as you have to have enough food intake in order to move things through and I had not been eating anything of much substance. Even the PT folks ask me. I know this is of concern for all patients, as the anaesthesia knocks the body around and with all the muscle relaxing drugs (which I hate taking), everything is relaxed, so those smooth colon muscles cant do their job...no pun intended.

Now I am down to the blood thinner once a day and Extra-strength Tylenol every 6 hrs. Sometimes I cheat a bit and take them at 5 hrs, but I'm not concerned. What I am concerned about is that all these drugs have now made my body think it is super -relaxed, and my bladder is likewise! bah! and I have to go down stairs to get to the bathroom:) Good exercise, anyway!

I was going a little stir crazy on Friday (day after Thanksgiving), and Waz needed to go to the grocery store for a few items of essential food we had run out of. We hopped onto Roosevelt and went south. I sat in the car while he did the shopping. It is very interesting sitting in a supermarket parking lot! you should try it some time!:)

We decided, as it was now 3.30pm, to do a large loop, and get a mini Dairy Queen Blizzard on the way, as a small treat:) It was just what the Dr didn't order, but we enjoyed it sitting in the car in the parking lot. It is a big deal for me to get in and out of the car, and I sit in the back right passenger seat. Thank goodness we have leather seats which make sliding so easy!!

Well, we should have been more 'onto-it'....Friday after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. It is traditionally the day that retailers deeply discount items, and there are literally 'crushes' of people, some of whom have camped outside the store over night, to get the first in line spot. People fight over deeply discounted TV sets, Computers and so much more. Blanding Blvd, which was our return route (Hwy 17) was chockablock! We at first thought there had been an accident, but then the penny dropped!!! OH NO! Black Friday sales, and we are driving past all the big box stores. Aieeee! With nowhere else to go, we slow-moved our way down (about 3 miles) to our turnoff on Wabash, which takes us back to the Marina. Phew! I was exhausted by the time Waz dropped me off at the dock gate.

Waz is showing off his kitchen skills right now...making a Chicken Curry. Ok, he cheats a bit, with a Japanese Curry mix, but you still have to put all the bits together for it to taste good. It is all going in the slow cooker! 
Yesterday he made Ham and Pea soup, with veg, of course, and we had that for a very tasty dinner.
We are soup lovers, and usually cant wait for the cooler temps to begin making our favorite varieties. We notice how veg. soup doesn't taste the same without Butternut squash in it to naturally sweeten the stock:)

Waz's bad Cholesterol test came back borderline high, and his Good cholesterol came back low. Hmmm....We have been looking at all the foods we need to be eating to work with that challenge and also for bone growth as well.

My own cholesterol is right where it should be, both good and bad, for which I am grateful. The hospital folks couldn't believe that I take no drugs whatsoever in my daily life...eh? I'm only 58! Who needs drugs?   My PT (Physical Therapy) guy says I have the blood pressure of an Athlete...it is consistently low...even after we have done our one hour workout!

Well, Waz has the curry all done, and we are getting the munchies for breakfast. Time to go and make some decisions!

Ciao for now. Sorry about the lack of photos....Although I did take some of the impending storm, a week ago...I will leave you with those:)

New Place, New People and Surgery

What a pleasure it is to find that there are a number of people we already know, sitting at dock in the Marina. New folks are so welcoming and inclusive and we feel very at home here. We also love that we are in a part of Jax that we are very familiar with, thanks to our Medical 'home' being just 3 miles from the Marina.

We have further explored our environment, going south to St Augustine to visit with Rhonda and Bruce Little...chief Troublemakers at Brunswick Landing, and Gloria and Mike who are sail boaters on their way back to West Palm Beach to meet with their boat broker and have a showing. We haven't heard if that was a Yes from the clients!
We were early for our rendezvous with them all, and as we were driving on this visit, we drove onto the Island, determined to walk onto the Atlantic Ocean beach there. We did stop at a wonderful garden store, through which we could see the St Augustine Light House.

 Waz on the beach ...The Atlantic side.

Parking is always at a premium in St Augustine, but we figured that if we parked on the opposite side of the Bridge of Lions, we would find parking. We did find a coffee./chocolate shop where we fueled up on a Latte...Hold the chocolates please.... and the woman there said she would love to have our car in their parking lot....it would make it look like they had customers:) We obliged, of course. Not too far to walk, and perfect all around.
The Bridge of Lions from the 'other' side.

 After we finished our meet and greet and pizza and beer....all excellent, we made our way home. Lovely late afternoon warmth on the trees and buildings.

As we walked back over the Bridge of Lions, we noticed that there were now TWO large babies on the dock, where there had only been one before. This is looking south down the ICW, and the south mooring field at St Augustine, Florida.

We know where the Home Depot is, the Post Office at Orange Park...a good one and not too busy!...that we are not far from the Naval Air Station at JAX, so we see lots of military out and about, and aircraft overhead.
Directly across the river from us are some lovely river side homes....some palatial, but many ordinary. We have done our usual Real Estate peek through that neighborhood of 40 yr old homes with large shade trees, and found one or two for sale.

On Waz's birthday, Nov. 14th, we drove down the highway, having sussed this out previously, to the 4Rivers Bar-B-Q and Ribs joint. It was a bit like take out ribs...we decided to split a whole side of St Louis Style, and sides of fries and cole slaw (per usual), which is all kind of dumped on the tray (except the slaw) and you take a seat, and bus your own. It wasn't quite the 'really nice' meal we had anticipated, but the ribs were juicy (Fatty, he said) and the fries were chunky and crisp...and most important...hot! We put the GPS on and found a Dairy Queen not too far away, and became their only customers for a long while, picking up a mini Blizzard each instead of a Birthday cake at the restaurant.
We see some interesting sky wherever we go, and this day was something special. There were even photos like this on the local TV weather channel, later that night. It was significant because of all the contrails we saw. This is only a small portion of the 28 Waz counted

With my total Hip Replacement surgery date looming large, we were preparing the boat for me to rehabilitate in. The temperatures were lovely, without being hot and needing airconditioning on at night....too bad, coz there is a leak somewhere in our bedroom system!
My lovely sister sent me a coloring book and pencils to while away the down time, when I'm not mobile enough to 'do' stuff. I immediately set to, coloring the front cover. I'm very determined to do each page as it comes and not skip around, as I might normally. We will see how long this resolve lasts, lol. The book is a thing of beauty, and I am enjoying it immensely. Lots of fine detail!

We went out for a Saturday Breakfast to the local Metro Diner, but were a but disappointed. It is obviously a favored place amongst the locals...busy as all get out! My usual Crab cakes Benedict left a bit to be desired....we will give them a second chance some time when I can walk on my own.
We also discovered, in the days immediately prior to surgery, that we have  a wonderful Japanese Restaurant just around the corner, and that the Chinese food place is also excellent. Well, there goes all of our take-out needs!
We actually ate at the Japanese restaurant twice! First time, Waz had the $9 chicken curry....while I had a dinner bento of grilled salmon, with enough sushi,sashimi,  etc to sink the Bismark. Delish!

We tried a combo of four Sushi rolls the second time. What we love about these folks is that they kept bringing us samples to taste:)
Not overly expensive, but definitely worth the journey to Fuji Sushi!

Finally...Surgery day! I had felt a bit like a cat on a hot tin roof the day prior. Lets just get this thing done!!! I had been swimming a couple of times in the large pool at the marina, and taken advantage of the lovely spa pool alongside, afterwards. We have walked a lot when we could, and so I felt ready physically and mentally, to do this surgery.
The 18th, Wednesday, was overcast, and we were informed we had to turn up at around 10.45am. I couldn't wait to get there, so we were on the road waaaay early.

Well prepped, warm blankets out of the warmer...I love that part:)....and being asked a gazillion questions over and over again. Surgeon comes in and signs my left hip where he will cut, and then the lady anesthesiologist came in and asked me the same questions yet again. Aieee!! I guess they cannot ever be too careful.
We are so enjoying our association with St Vincent's Hospital and associated specialists. Our Doctors and specialists are all highly trained and regarded and we feel safe in their hands.

I was out of surgery mid afternoon, with the op itself taking only 1hr 40 mins.

After two night in hospital...this floor is devoted to knee and hip surgery, and they are VERY conscious of germs and phobic about hospital bugs, thank goodness....they sent me home on Friday after lunch, having had three rounds of PT already. I knew what I was supposed to do, and could function as well as I needed to get up and down the stairs here.

My Pt lady just left the boat after the second visit. She pushed me hard today, and we walked all the way to the end of the dock...my second visit there today.  I don't put a lot of pressure on the walker and she noticed that and was surprised that I was confident on my feet, though still needing the comfort of the walker. Waz bought me a cane today! We practiced with that inside the boat.

Last night was not a fun night for sleep. I don't think either of us got much. Waz had cooked some spicy sausage for dinner, with greens, and we both found that they were a bit much and giving us acid reflux....something horrid! At 2am we went in search of the Tums. I also was having spiders crawling over my legs....so he has just gone away to get my  prescription for Valium filled. The PT lady said I might need it tonight especially after doing so much hard work on my mobility. We will see.

I'm feeling confident I will be fully mobile by the date of my Hand Surgery, Dec.21st.

It is Thanksgiving in the USA on the 26th, and we are going to join many of the other live aboard boaters in the Yacht Club rooms, for a shared meal and company.

With Christmas just around the corner, we have sent all the parcels off to foreign lands and family everywhere, and can now just concentrate on staying well and getting mobile. Waz is a saint! He is so happy to help with everything and his cooking is coming along in leaps and bounds...probably coz I cant get up to look over his shoulder:)
Well, that's it for now. Happy Thanksgiving to our American Readers, and we will be in touch before Christmas. Ciao.

Sunsets are just as good in this Marina as they were in the last one:)

Getting Settled in New Surroundings.

It is always a bit of a challenge getting ourselves sorted in a new place, and learning all the ropes and rule....ahhhh! did I say RULES??? crikey! there are PLENTY of rules.

First thing Waz asked me was..." DO you think this is the kind of place I could take something outside and use a paint sprayer on it???? " Um....NO! is the short answer. The LONG answer goes something like this " If you think you need to do those kinds of things, you are best to get in the car and drive a few miles down the road to one of the lesser suburbs where the grass is longer, in the parks, and people don't care what you do there."

So....
After we left Cumberland Island....

This is one of the Wild horses of Cumberland Island.... They were close to the beach and this one ventured down and was grazing along the waterline for a bit.

 Stunning morning to depart. Looking back down the Cumberland Sound.

and back the way we went in

 Our last look back. We wont be back here for a bit!

What a stunning day. So bright and hot! It is hard looking into the sun and the sun on the water on such days, that we almost welcome overcast weather.

We sat around, made things ready, sat around some more and waited for 11.30 and a higher tide to get through some of the narrow places we had to go.

Crossing the sound was a piece of cake, and I took the helm to give Waz a break and an opportunity to enjoy the view.

 Fernandina Beach Marina and the Fuel Dock

More later... 

Goodness me! It is now the 22nd November, and I have more than a little catch-up to do, don't I?

I will finish the trip to Jax and then fill you in on the rest of our time here.

This yacht has been submerged for years, we think. Too bad all those nastie substances are filtering into the water there. It is at the bottom of the mooring field at Fernandina Beach

 Going south we had an escort for about twenty minutes, of two large male Dolphin. As I have said so many times before...nothing beats a Dolphin escort. They first played in the bow wave before shifting to the wake. Such joyful creatures.

For the third time we nicely scooted under this drawbridge without having to request an opening...we need 19ft of clearance and she gives us 20 and a bit. As long as we stay down the middle, we are fine. We had a strong current pushing us to the side, but soon sorted that out. Nice not to have to wait for that opening.

 Shortly after, we turned into the mighty St John's River which is navigable for a couple of hundred of the 310 miles going inland through the city of Jacksonville. The mouth of the river is wide and as small boats we are subject to shipping laws and rights of passage. We followed the big girls up the river.

 You can see where we have just made the turn, bottom right. It is 2.33pm, but it would take us another almost 3 hrs to reach our Marina of choice.

 Of course, when you have a large body of water bisecting your city, you have to have lots (make that LOTS) of bridges.  Here we are passing the commercial docks on our way west up the river (goes east west, and then turns to go north south).

 I love bridges, and perhaps you can enjoy the design and beauty of some of them too.

 And, Voila! Downtown Jacksonville along the St John's River.

 The little yacht up front had requested the raising of the railway bridge to accommodate their mast height, but they were also puttering along at about 4 knots....we hailed them numerous times but they didn't respond, so Waz did the only thing he could do under the circumstances, and got on the horn. Gave them a "We don't know what your intentions are" blast of five short ones, and they quickly moved over for us to pass on their port side.

The folks below were having a wedding rehearsal...and some jogger just runs through the middle of it. We laughed and laughed..it was so unexpected and so silly.

 Here we are ! Just found our way into the Ortega River, waiting briefly for the low road bridge to open for us, at rush hour, and settled ourselves onto the dock with the help of another couple of nearby boaters. Nice, because there was a wind wanting to push us around. Per usual, Waz put us into a tight spot just like the pro he is...first time out! Getting between the sticks with a wind throwing you off isn't easy!

 The sun going down as I turn all the equipment off and stow our charts for the next 3-5 months. Looking out over the way we have come up the Ortega River, into the Marina at Ortega Landing.

 It is now Saturday the 6th of November. 2015

Time to Leave Brunswick, Ga.

There comes a time in the year, when the date on the clock says November 1st! or 2nd, in our case.
All the Hurricane Refugees at the Marina have washed, provisioned and prepared to within an inch, for the coming exodus. Most of us have boat insurance that dictates we stay out of the state of Florida from June 1st through November 1st, inclusively. Many don't have this, and come and go as they please...lucky them!

Saying goodbye to friends made over the 5 months we have all been docked at Brunswick Landing Marina is tough. This has been The Summer of 2015, as they are calling it, back there. Not often do you get a large group of people like this, who all manage to get along, help each other out and celebrate together without rancor. We have truly had a collection of Aussies, Kiwis, Canadian, lots of mixes of all of those, plus Americans, of course, Brazilian, and even a Swedish family. I am sure I have missed one or two nationalities, but you get the idea.

First to go, at the beginning of October were the kiwis on Busco Viento 11, a lovely Beneteau 54, bound for a new job and life in the British Virgin Islands. Their 9 yr old son was a delight, and we miss them all. Some crept quietly down the river and were missed days later.

There was much activity in the Marina as we all provisioned, fixed, cleaned and compared notes of where we were all bound, with the majority going either to Marathon, southern Florida, or the Bahamas, Exumas, BVI..British Virgin Islands/Cuba/ Western Caribbean and some even going through the Panama Canal and into the Pacific either going south or up the western states to Seattle/Vancouver cruising grounds.

We are only going down the ICW to Jacksonville!:( Nothing too fun or exciting, except that some of our dock friends are also going there.
As we pulled out of the dock, I had to look back at the gap now created. Our neighbors, Brent and Susan had left a little before us. We had intended to leave around 10am, going to the fuel dock to fill up, and pump out and pay our final bill. With a parcel due to arrive with the mail, we ended up walking into town to Daddy Cate's café for our last coffee while we waited.
It was foggy still, and though the forecast said that would clear, it never really did!

 Bruce, David and Rhonda on the dock, taking photos and waving goodbye from Dock 8, the social scene:) If anything good was happening anywhere, it was on Dock 8! We so enjoyed our many 'social' hours there. Nina and Bob yelled their goodbyes from the back of their yacht. We hope to catch up with them down the way somewhere.

It was 12.30 before we finally cast off the lines...having been ready to move since 10am. Getting out into the Brunswick River was bitter sweet. Hard to leave something so good.

 Out and under the wonderful bridge going into Brunswick, and through the marshes alongside Jekyll Island, which we had come through going north, at low tide, wondering why we only had 2 ft of water under us. We determined then, to go south with more water under us!:)

 The sun did try to come through, but not very successfully!

 High tide in the marshes. It is a winding path through all the marshes to Cumberland Island.

The North Atlantic Ocean is on the right of the chart as shown.

We arrived at Cumberland Island around 5pm, last night. We set about getting dinner...steak! very tasty! and settling down for the night. It was hot! Waz had to remind me I could have the fan on in the bedroom. Thank goodness it works on 12vt. power.

We woke early this morning, had our coffee and I set about making blueberry and raspberry (fresh) muffins. Nice for a change, and something I don't make often. Because we are sitting around most of the day, it is a light food day.

Lots of dolphin activity, and some of the wild horses from Cumberland Island came down to the shore to feed. Our neighbors from the dock, Suzie and Brent and their friends are rafted up behind us, and came by in the dinghy to invite us to a picnic on shore at noon. We didn't take them up on the offer, nice that it was. We have done ordinary things today...I wrote the annual Christmas letter and some hand written Christmas cards. Nice to get those done, as they are international mail and need to be sent soon.
We sit here and watch the different boats come and go...there is a ferry that comes across a couple of times per day, from St Mary's, on the mainland. Fishermen and kayaks, and dinghys from the more than 18 boats anchored in this long finger of water.
This will be the last time we will anchor, for a while, and we are sad.

November 18th I get a total Left Hip Replacement. Cant wait to be out of pain. I know this is a process, and it will take hard work, but with good management, this wont last too long.


Suzie and Brent are rafted with their friends, on the right hand side. Looking back down the sound to the anchored boats, with Cumberland Island on the left. The Kings Bay Submarine Base is on the right of these boats. We have to pass it on the way here. Security boats go back and forth all day and night guarding the boats that are in port. there.

The Kings Bay Submarine Base with support vessels.

The Degausing frame for Submarines. This de-magnetizes them. I posted a photo similar to this when we came north in May, this year.

We make way tomorrow bound for Jacksonville, which means we have one more night stop at the bottom of the St Johns River, tomorrow. We will make our way the final 25 miles to Ortega River, up the St Johns River, on Saturday noon-ish. Arriving late afternoon.

I will let you know when we arrive. Our new digs are lovely!

The Yacht Club and admin building

I had to take a photo through the window because it has secure entry that we weren't party to yet.

 See that little Blue bottomed Sea Ray? It is leaving to allow us berth there!

The marina has a nice pool and spa...I look forward to doing some aquasize when I have healed sufficiently.

We look forward to being in this area which we are already familiar with and like very much. Jacksonville is a hugely spread out city, with not a lot going on downtown,we have found, but the suburbs...well, some of them...are vibrant and lovely, with big trees providing much needed shade in the heat of summer.
Well, time to make some fresh pumpkin soup for dinner. Ciao for now!