Mike
05/04/2013, Charleston, SC

Today we take off across country towing the trailer full of our stuff. The plan is to drive to Northern California, visit family (and see new grandson Oliver) and friends then establish a base for stuff storage (boat stuff) AND... THEN.... find a new boat to continue our cruising.
We have been staying with son Graham and daughter-in-law Leigh for SEVERAL weeks while sorting out transportation needs, boat searching and generally trying to figure out what we are going to do post Primrose. Be careful if you invite us to stay with you. You may find yourself asking "when are they going to move on???"
Thank You Graham and Leigh!!! It has been a Godsend to be able to stay with you!
Currently several boats in Mexico look promising: located in Sea of Cortez, a great cruising ground, and many are already well equipped for cruising. Warm weather low cost of living, beautiful cruising grounds.....hmmmm sounds attractive indeed!

Comments [3]

Mike
04/19/2013, Charleston

Wow! Discovered that cousin Bruce Robinson lives in Charleston. We have not seen each other in decades. Bruce grew up in Panama, the Canal Zone. Both the Robinson and Fitzgerald families grew up in the Canal Zone. Bruce like many of the Robinsons, Guttmans (cousin Dave) and Fitzgeralds is a sailor. A few years ago I did a count including uncles, grand parents, and cousins there are/were 13 or 14 who went to sea as merchant mariners, Navy or pleasure sailors in the family tree.
Bruce was gracious enough to invite us for a sail on his latest boat Lizika, a C & C 99. It was a post card day on Charleston Bay, 10-15 knots of breeze and about 80 degrees. AND... its Charleston Race Week so we got to sail with 100+ racers out on the Bay.
Beautiful day, great sail, great company! It felt VERY GOOD to be back on the water! Photos in photo gallery....

Comments [1]

Mike
04/12/2013

Looking for the next boat and doing some "land cruising" is next on the agenda. We bought the camper in Beaufort SC from very nice folks, Paul and Charmaine, commercial fishermen (shrimper and crab pots), home builder and all around good folks. Craig's list, what a good resource.
The camper has quite a bit smaller accommodations than Primrose did (photos in photo gallery) but gives us flexibility of not relying solely on motels. It has a "pop top" so when on the road it closes down for lower profile and less wind resistance.
I think we head north, Chesapeake Bay possibly.

Comments [1]

Mike
04/11/2013, Goose Creek, SC

Last week we bought a pick up truck: '93 Ford F250 Deisel from the second owner. He bought from his dad so it's almost original owner. Low miles for a diesel pick up.
Today we will add a camper. This will give us flexibility for our search for a replacement boat for Primrose and also do some land exploring.
We are still at son and daughter-in-law's (Graham and Leigh) house in Goose Creek, South Carolina. It's a suburb of Charleston.

Comments [4]

Mike
03/26/2013, Daytona Beach

Good bye Sweet Primrose...
The case is closed. The insurance company paid off full coverage (except living expenses to come) today. That is good news indeed. The not so good news: we didn't have her insured for her full value after our improvements. Lesson learned.
Photos in "photo gallery" of a small part of the the clean up/off loading work that took us about 3 weeks. We saved what we could but so much was lost by a half day submerged in salt water. As we have said before this could have been so much worse, we are grateful.
Primrose sits at Sea Love Boat Works, Ponce Inlet, Daytona Beach, FL. She was purchased by a salvager from the insurance company for $650. Wow sounds low but 2 deisel engines, 2 refrigerators, 1 freezer, 2 air conditioners, electronics, miles of electrical wire, water damaged wood work, foam cushions, mattress, fiberglass repair, new skeg and more.... Yes she was offer to us to buy back. We did consider this however the project is bigger than we want to take on at this time. I like fixing up boats but I like voyaging and exploring by sailboat more.
What next?
We are looking for a car/truck/camper to buy. We will head to Charleston to visit son Graham and duaghter-in-law Leigh. THEN..... will continue our search for a new boat We have looked at some but have not zeroed in on one yet. We are looking for a boat that is not a project and has the equipment we want for living aboard and cruising. The East Coast seems to have a big inventory. The Carribean seems to have a good selection too.

Comments [5]

03/07/2013, Ponce Inlet

Photo Gallery has photos of Primrose interior water level before Coast Guard ordered us off. Also posted interior photos of after she was on the hard before we began clean up. And finally photos of damage that resulted from backing (1/2 boat length) off the sand bar and hitting her rudder.
Folks have asked about our plans. We have not had time to give them much thought. It's been full days of clean up. Another boat? We think so. We will take some time to consider.
We thank everyone for the kind thoughts and wishes.
Special thanks to Earl Tingle and Vicky Martin. Their beautiful home is on the Halifax River overlooking the spot we grounded. They are fellow boaters (Mainship Trawler) and witnessed our event. Earl tells me many boats hit bottom here. The sand bar shifts location. Earl contacted the Coast Guard before we were ashore to offer to put us up for a couple of nights. We accepted their invitation, wow what a great reprieve from our situation.
Also special thanks to Pete and Clare Bermel of S/V Gull Wing. We met Pete and Clare in the boat yard at Green Cove Springs Marina. They are now on their way to the Bahamas and loaned us their car while we sort things out.
We are thankful for many things, first the great friendship (new and old) and support we have enjoyed, second that we did not get off the sand bar, Primrose would have gone down. Also we are thankful this happened within 1/2 mile of the Coast Guard and commerical tow boats and 1 mile from Sea Love Boat Works, the only boat yard in the county capable of hauling Primrose instead of a remote location or at sea.

Comments [4]