Overall, it has been a beautiful week on the water. We have spent a lot of time on the boat due to all land based places being closed for the virus. It's amazing how much money you save when all the restaurants are closed! We had our first walking trip to the grocery store which involved pulling a little cart to haul everything back to the boat. All went well until we were on our way out of the store and it occurred to me that we were probably going to get mugged. In our cart, we had a few food items, 2 cases of bottled water and a case of beer. It was better than gold on the current black market! Bill assured me that they might get the food and the water but no way were they getting the beer....priorities in hard times..... Our boating route has been very simple this week. Straight south, then slight turn, then straight south again. We seem to be the only boat heading south. We started counting on Tuesday and in 2 days, we counted 40 boats heading back north. Snowbirds flying north! For those of you who didn't grow up going to the Redneck Riviera (aka Panama City Beach, FL), Snowbirds are all of the Yankees and Canadians that head south for the winter and then, for some insane reason, head back north again for summer. We just waved as we happily chugged our way to warmth. We landed in Titusville on Wednesday to have some work done on the generator. Bill's girls and grandsons dropped by for a visit so it was great to see them all. We did get to mark one item off of our bucket list! A rocket launch from Cape Canaveral! The first Space Force rocket launched on Thursday after only a slight delay and it was an amazing thing to see. If you blink, you will miss it....that is how fast it goes. I am hoping to possibly see another one on Monday from Cocoa Beach and if I do, there will be no blinking! Manatees, dolphins, gators, oh my! Florida has it all! I have determined that the dolphins are good luck and any time they are around, things always go well. I was searching all week for manatees but just could not seem to find one. So, they found me! A family of three (including baby!) came right up to the boat in our marina. When you turn on the hose and run the water over the side of the deck, they come up and drink out of it like a water fountain. It was amazing! Papa manatee was a little intimidating as he was easily half the length of our boat....I'll stick with baby..... Here's hoping that everyone who is locked in the house is staying well and catching up on some good books! I will provide a few of my favorites just in case you need some suggestions: Rebecca, Devil in the White City, Manhunt, The Reluctant Genius, American Empress, Gone with the Wind and Dad would kill me if I didn't mention his book, "The Still Hog Theory". Educational Fact for the Week: Manatees: Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus Trichechus) are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living species in the order Sirenia: the Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis), the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), and the West African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis). They measure up to 4.0 metres (13.1 ft) long, weigh as much as 590 kilograms (1,300 lb),[2] and have paddle-like flippers. The etymology of the name is dubious, with connections having been made to Latin "manus" (hand), and to a word sometimes cited as "manati" used by the Taíno, a pre-Columbian people of the Caribbean, meaning "breast".[3] Manatees are occasionally called sea cows, as they are slow plant-eaters, peaceful and similar to cows on land. They often graze on water plants in tropical seas.[4]
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We have just been the rebels this week! It started in Tybee Island on Saturday when we went to visit our friends. They were slated to be on a float in the annual Tybee Island St. Patrick's Day parade that afternoon so we jumped into an Uber and made our way out to the island. We arrived around noon and the 3:00 parade had just been cancelled by the Tybee Island mayor (it was a hotbed of controversy like Trump has never experienced because every one in the bar basically un-elected the mayor on the spot that day....no need for any trials on St. Patty's Day in a small island town in Georgia!). Then, at 1pm, the parade was back on (I guess the mayor got the message of the uprising). Then, at 2pm, it was announced that the mayor "pulled the permit" for the parade but would not interfere if "others chose to proceed".....you have to admit that was some inventive politicking on her part! So, for the next hour, it was the game of 'would they or wouldn't they'. Right at 3pm, we heard the sirens and then had to wait to see if the police were escorting or arresting....they were escorting so a fun parade was enjoyed by all! Rebel week continued as we made our way down the ICW to Amelia Island. We were chugging happily along when a coast guard patrol boat with a gun on the front of it hailed us over its' loud speaker....."Coast guard calling Gone Galt. Pick up your radio, Captain". Believe me when I tell you, that will get your attention. Luckily, we had not done anything wrong! They stopped us because they were getting ready for a Trident nuclear submarine to head out to sea and we were floating right in the middle of the event. So, we had to float around in circles for an hour waiting for the submarine to make its' way out of the harbor. I had never seen a Trident submarine before and it was very exciting! It was surrounded by a load of gun ships and as the sub headed out, the coast guard called us and informed us we could begin our journey again as long as we stayed at least 1 nautical mile behind the guide ship. Bill laughed and told the coast guard that even if we ran Galt at 400% of throttle we could not catch that ship. I am pretty sure they are still chuckling about that right now. We arrived in Amelia and have enjoyed several days with Bill's mom who is closely following the coronavirus rules. I have learned to sing the ABC song while washing my hands to make sure I meet her 20 second wash rule! Kaarin arrived home from Greece last night only to find that the United States has gone insane as well but I am very happy she is back on home soil! I hope you have enjoyed our saga of the week and I look forward to writing again next week when we hopefully make it to Cape Canaveral area! Educational Fact for the Week: Trident Submarines:
The Ohio class was designed in the 1970s to carry the concurrently designed Trident submarine-launched ballistic missile. The first eight Ohio-class submarines were armed at first with 24 Trident I C4 SLBMs.[6] Beginning with the ninth Trident submarine, Tennessee, the remaining boats were equipped with the larger, three-stage Trident II D5 missile.[7] The Trident I missile carries eight multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles, while the Trident II missile carries 12, in total delivering more destructive power than the Trident I missile and with greater accuracy. Starting with Alaska in 2000, the Navy began converting its remaining ballistic missile submarines armed with C4 missiles to carry D5 missiles. This task was completed in mid-2008. The first eight submarines had their home ports at Bangor, Washington, to replace the submarines carrying Polaris A3 missiles that were then being decommissioned. The remaining 10 submarines originally had their home ports at Kings Bay, Georgia, replacing the Poseidon and Trident Backfit submarines of the Atlantic Fleet. After much frustration on all sides, the engine is fixed! KMA Boatworx (literally stands for Kiss My Ass which is an awesome name in my opinion!) finally figured out the issues and got our very stubborn Lehman engine put back together and happily pulling oil. Toward the end, I was shocked when the guys would show up to work at all. They had so many cuts and bruises on them that one of them said, “If there is ever a murder investigation on this boat, our DNA is going to show up all over it!” Luckily, no murders were committed and we began chugging our way south to warmer weather! We are now settled into Savannah for a few days to visit some old college friends and celebrate St. Patty’s Day….oh wait….we can’t do that because Savannah cancelled St. Patty’s Day celebration plans….good old Coronavirus….sigh. Having both of my kids in college, Coronavirus updates are a daily occurrence. Kaarin is in Greece so needless to say, the information coming out of Greece changes minute to minute. Initially, their president announced that all gatherings of 1000 people or more would be cancelled. Thus, based on that logic, you would be safe from the virus as long as you were only in a crowd of 999 or less. Whew. That was encouraging (and very scientifically based) news. Then, they quarantined Kaarin and crew into their dorm rooms so I guess they figured out their math wasn’t adding up….can’t imagine why! Now, I just got notice that she has to leave Greece by next Friday. Looks like another week of nonstop planning! Everett is at UNLV which seems to have an even better system set up. Everett showed up for class this past week and his teacher informed them that she needed their class to actually write an emergency plan for the university. UNLV did not have any kind of catastrophic emergency plan in place at all! So, they wrote a plan. At least when the zombie apocalypse happens, they’ll be prepared now. College of Charleston has wisely decided that stopping classes for an additional week after spring break will solve the problem. Not sure what kind of spring break activities they are used to but when we were in college, no way we were leaving Panama City Beach without contracting every germ in a 10 mile radius! Now, back to the boat….living with a man who has been planning for the apocalypse for years has it’s advantages. He has enough toilet paper stashed for the next century. He has always said that when the apocalypse hit, no one was going to want silver or gold. They would want toilet paper. He has been very smug this week with all the toilet paper disappearing off the shelves so I had to admit he was not as crazy as he seems. If you can find us, I’m sure he would share some toilet paper with you….just be sure to bring him your silver and gold….. That is all of the updates for this week! Our next stage of the trip should take us from Savannah down to Amelia Island, Florida to visit Bill’s mom so I’ll try to get you an update next week! Educational Fact for the Week: The History of Savannah On February 12, 1733,[10] General James Oglethorpe and settlers from the ship Anne landed at Yamacraw Bluff and were greeted by Tomochichi, the Yamacraws, and Indian traders John and Mary Musgrove. Mary Musgrove often served as an interpreter. The city of Savannah was founded on that date, along with the colony of Georgia. In 1751, Savannah and the rest of Georgia became a Royal Colony and Savannah was made the colonial capital of Georgia.[11] By the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Savannah had become the southernmost commercial port in the Thirteen Colonies. British troops took the city in 1778, and the following year a combined force of American and French soldiers, including Haitians, failed to rout the British at the Siege of Savannah. The British did not leave the city until July 1782.[12] In December 1804 the state legislature declared Milledgeville the new capital of Georgia. Savannah, a prosperous seaport throughout the nineteenth century, was the Confederacy's sixth most populous city and the prime objective of General William T. Sherman's March to the Sea. Early on December 21, 1864, local authorities negotiated a peaceful surrender to save Savannah from destruction, and Union troops marched into the city at dawn.[13] Savannah was named for the Savannah River, which probably derives from variant names for the Shawnee, a Native American people who migrated to the river in the 1680s. The Shawnee destroyed another Native people, the Westo, and occupied their lands at the head of the Savannah River's navigation on the fall line, near present-day Augusta.[14] These Shawnee, whose Native name was Ša·wano·ki (literally, "southerners"),[15] were known by several local variants, including Shawano, Savano, Savana and Savannah.[16] Another theory is that the name Savannah refers to the extensive marshlands surrounding the river for miles inland, and is derived from the English term "savanna", a kind of tropical grassland, which was borrowed by the English from Spanish sabana and used in the Southern Colonies. (The Spanish word comes from the Taino word zabana.)[17] Still other theories suggest that the name Savannah originates from Algonquian terms meaning not only "southerners" but perhaps "salt".[18][19] |
AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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