NORTH TO THE US OF A

We definelty didn’t leave enough time for the Bahamas, what a fabulous place, I could spend an entire winter there as there are so many islands to spend time in.  The only problem is that the waters are very shallow in places but we are learning to recognize the depths by the color of the water and not panic too much when we see coral heads. Only possible when the sun is high in the sky.

We went onshore after the racing one evening in the regatta at George Town, had the most amazing lobster in a plastic box and danced with the locals in the middle of the street. As we left the next day we heard a radio forum that was broadcasted every morning at the same time for the yachting community, announcing yoga classes on the beach, things to sell and buy, advice with how to fix things and at the end a thought for the day.  I rather liked this one “Success in life is going from one disaster to the next without ever losing enthusiasm”.

Quite a moment

We suddenly found ourselves in a rush to get to the States to meet Emma so put our foot down and sailed North, stopping late at night or sailing all night to make it to Cape Canaveral in time.  Crossing the Gulf Stream at right angles was interesting, I had to almost steer south to make it across and then suddenly it just switched off. It was definelty a great and rather surreal moment motoring into America and a massive sense of achievement.  A couple of summers ago sailing off the North coast of Spain I remember looking out across the water and thinking that way lies the US of A and we were there!!

It was very hot and yet we ignored the advice to get a cab to the customs, after all one mile is really not that far and we needn’t the exercise…  We had thunderstorms that night and a lot of rain the next day, which might explain that heat! But it really didn’t matter because Emma arrived and what a joy to see her after six months and in such fabulous form!

Emma holding up the world of Space

We had planned to go to the Space station on her first day but due to the horrible weather we decided to leave it a day and so Emma and I set off to provision the boat. She said she had always wanted to go to a Walmart and so we hopped in a cab, she had seen one in a film and was under the mistaken Illusion we were of to an American John Lewis and I knew no better! However we did we have a giggle, no one makes me laugh like Emma Dallas! I thought my sides were going to burst. We made such a spectacle of ourselves that one young man came up to us and told us he had been following us around the store for two hours and couldn’t quite believe we were still laughing!

Saturn V's Burners

The other end
 of Saturn V

Driving the Space Shuttle

The next morning we set of for a day at the Space Centre and all three of us were blown away with the experience.  We went to the Rocket Garden displaying the first series of rockets that went up in space, where the astronauts were crammed into tiny capsules on top of a gigantic firework. We saw the Saturn V rocket from the Apollo series that went to the moon and couldn’t believe the sheer size of it. We touched a piece of the moon and went on a bus tour of the enormous complex, marveling at the alligators and the launch sites.  We saw the Atlantis Space shuttle that had made 31 missions into space and had to almost wire our jaws shut. And all this achieved in the past. We will now all follow the mission to Mars very closely indeed!

If you look closely you might see a rocket

The Loading bay of Atlantis

To top of this extravaganza we were told that there was to be a rocket launch that night of a satellite. We duly set our alarms for 1.15am and Andrew went on deck to await the outcome. Annoyed that he wouldn’t be able to see anything because there were too many bright lights in the distance he quickly realized it was about to be launched and called us up. Rather dazed I had no idea what was going on, or why I had been woken when we were clearly attached to the land and therefore in no danger and then I heard the noise. We were about three miles from the site and the whole world felt like it was shaking. We watch the rocket launch and disappear into the heavens, a sight none of us will ever forget.

St. Augustine

Emma in the Look Out

Our next stop was the beautiful town of St. Augustine, which is the oldest town in America. We wandered through the pretty streets with the old houses surrounded by large verandas and the Spanish moss hanging from the trees and it was just as I had imagined the Deep South would be. There was even an old fort, although I am starting to feel that once you have seen one fort you have seen them all.

Jim Mercier's House Savannah

We stopped in Fernandia Beach for the night and then overnighted to Savannah, mooring up to the dock in the middle of town.  Having just read the book, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil “ a true story of murder and the colorful goings on of the city in the 1970’s, we were excited to explore the place. We loved the many squares that the town is made up of and we visited the house that Jim Mercier lived, and supposedly committed murder in, but after the delights of St. Augustine we felt it came a poor second.

Hilton Head

My last stop on the trip was to Hilton Head, a large inlet with many very large and expensive houses lining the water on every creek. We anchored in Calibogue Creek and had a last night of family games, following a trip ashore to sample the local cocktails! Then time for me to leave Emma and Andrew for a last week together and head home for a short trip, sad to be missing out on their adventures but happy to have had such a fab time with my gorgeous eldest daughter!

Mother & daughter team

The ants have reached new heights even invading one cereal box, I am afraid I took great delight in drowning them in situ! We have bought some ant traps, the result is to date unknown….