Elixir has a New Home!!

Elixir at Brunswick Landing Marina

Its official!  After spending so much time in Brunswick the past year, we decided to just move the boat here from Savannah.  So when we came back from Jacksonville, we just stopped here and never left!  Its an hour closer to our house by car, and a day closer to Florida by boat.  Steve and Benita on Solemar share the same dock so we get to visit with our good friends more often.   So Elixir now resides at the Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, Georgia!  If you happen to stop by on most any weekend, stop by the boat and say hello!

On another note, I apologize for not having posted sooner, but when we returned from Jacksonville we started major renovations on Elixir.  We have a lot of projects going on at the same time and it is keeping us pretty busy.  Elixir is currently dead at the dock while we complete those projects, but I promise, you will see some cool changes being posted soon!  Keep an eye on the "Restoration" page to see the transformations!

Jacksonville Bound !!

Our plans for our last vacation of the year had been in the works for some time and we were getting anxious to depart.  We had decided to head to Jacksonville, Florida.  It was to be both a trip of excitement and a trip of sorrow, as the main reason for the location was for Marie to visit the grave of her son, Matthew, who passed away last January at the age of 34.  Jacksonville was also the place where Marie and I met some 30 years ago and we both lived there for a number of years.  Jacksonville is at best a 2 day trip from Savannah and I only had one week for vacation.  Four days round trip makes for a short vacation so we decided to ferry Elixir down to Brunswick the prior weekend to cut out a day of travel.  As it turned out, Steve and Benita were on vacation on board Solemar that week so we would get to visit with them both the weekend we arrived in Brunswick as well as the following weekend.  When Jim and Ann, who were still in Savannah on Wild Goose, got wind of the plans, they decided to drive down to Brunswick and join in the fun!

The offending pedestal

The trip down to Brunswick was uneventful, but about 1 a.m. on the night of our arrival, the carbon monoxide alarm went off and we had to evacuate the boat while it aired out.  Just as we were getting ready to re-enter, the power failed.  I went around to check the breaker on the pedestal and noticed it was smoking!  I quickly disconnected Elixir from the pedestal and then the debate began.  Did Elixir cause the fire or did the pedestal?  Eventually, we plugged in to a nearby pedestal and the power came up fine.  It wasn't us!  The next day we reported the problem and it was promptly repaired.

Pulling out

 After leaving Elixir in Brunswick for the week, we arrived on Thursday to begin preparations for our trip to Jacksonville.  Steve and Benita took us by car to Sailor's Exchange in both St. Augustine and Jacksonville to see what we could find.  It is a treasure trove of parts and supplies for boats, especially old parts that are no longer made.  We found a new 50 amp to two 30 amps splitter that we have been looking for.  We got it for about $150 less than retail stores!   Jim and Ann stopped by on their way back north and we all visited on

Where am I going?

Saturday.  We departed at sunrise on Sunday and headed south.  Once we turned south off of the Brunswick River, we were travelling where we had only gone once before, during our trip to Captiva Island!

I was ready this time for the turn which can be confusing the first time you make it as it appears that you are headed into a dead-end!  Trust me, there is a way out!

Cumberland Island horse

The trip to Jacksonville ended up being full of firsts for us.  We saw our first horse on Cumberland Island!  There were actually two of them and I turned Elixir to get as close as the depth would allow me.  They did not seem to mind and just kept eating.  It was also the first time we had a dolphin surfing our side wake, our first sighting of a Hammerhead Shark and a Roseate Spoonbill, a beautiful pink bird!  It was our first visit to Jacksonville by boat.  It was also the first time we took waves over our bow!

Attack of the jet skis !

During our time in Jacksonville, we stayed at 3 different docks that the city provides. You can stay for up to 72 hours at each dock at no charge!  We were surprised to find that both times we stayed at the Jacksonville Free City Dock, we were the only boat there, since it is a very nice dock located directly on the ICW.  The other two docks were the Jacksonville Landing and the Municipal Park Marina.  Although we were the only boat that stayed overnight at The Jacksonville Landing, it was full of activity during the day as boats came and went to eat lunch, dinner, or just shop.  It was fun to watch!

Lonely Elixir on the Jacksonville Free City Dock

The Municipal Park Marina was less exciting, but a nice quiet place to stay.  It also had electricity, something the other two did not.  However, staying at docks without electricity gave us a chance to test our generator in a real life setting for the first time since we got her running and she charged up our batteries with no problem.  It also gave us air conditioning and TV!  Now we are really getting spoiled!

Sea Turtle!

Downtown Jacksonville

I have learned to try to time our departures to take advantage of the currents and this trip was no different.  I timed our departure to arrive on the St. Johns with the incoming tide which would carry us quickly to our destination.  Arrival time should be an hour to an hour and a half after turning onto the St. Johns.  I even told Marie to leave the fenders over (but not in the water) as we would soon be arriving.  Then I turned the corner......... smack into the mighty St. Johns' current.  Four knots.  That's all I could get.  Four knots!

Matthews and Hart Bridges

Our short trip turned into a grueling 3 1/2 hours!  It was almost 2 hours before we even caught a glimpse of the Jacksonville skyline in the distance!  The St. Johns apparently does not pay attention to the tidal charts.  It does have incoming and outgoing currents, but they do not coincide with the tide and can be as much as 3 hours off!  When we traveled the St. Johns on our return trip, I just waited until I saw the current going the direction we wanted and then we left.  The difference was astounding as I averaged 8.1 knots!

Our security bird keeps watch from the All American Grill

Elixir at The Jacksonville Landing

Jacksonville National Cemetery

The main purpose of going to Jacksonville was to visit Matthew's grave and so we rented a car and drove out to the National Cemetery where he is buried.  Matthew had served in the U.S. Navy and was buried among others who had served to protect our nation's freedom.  Matthew has a nice view of a lake with a fountain in it.  Marie is very saddened by his death.  It was an emotional trip.

Elixir at the Municipal Park Marina

While at the Municipal Park Marina, our friends, Greg and Candice, from Albany, dropped by for a visit while they were in town.  They are currently bringing their boat, Sea-clusion, from Minnesota to Panama City and had left it in St. Louis for some repairs.  We took them on the short trip up river by boat to The Jacksonville Landing to have dinner and then returned.  It was nice to visit with them and take them for their first trip on our boat!

Ron and Greg on the flybridge

The Mayport Ferry

Elixir at the Sandollar Restaurant

When the time came to start heading back north, we decided to make a side trip to Mayport.  I spent 4 years stationed at ships home-ported at the Mayport Naval Station and thought it would be fun to see it again, by pleasure boat!  On the way we stopped at the Sandollar Restaurant, which is across the water from the town of Mayport.  The food was great and the staff was very friendly, but you have to be adventurous to arrive by boat.  The dock is almost gone and you have to search for cleats.  Parts of the dock are angled steeply from side to side and one section bobbed up and down as you walked across it!  It was like auditioning for American Ninja Warrior!

Atlantis II

We saw the Atlantis II, a very interesting looking ship that is famous for transporting the Alvin to photograph the Titanic.  It will soon be up for sale if anyone is interested!
On the day we traveled from Jacksonville to Brunswick, it rained the whole day.  Most of it was just a drizzle, so it was no big deal.  We just drove from the inside helm.  But as we neared the St. Andrew Sound, we got hit by a real bad storm.  Visibility was less than 500 feet and even though we were in a river, we could not see land!  I had to steer by electronics alone.  Marie helped watch for other boats since I had to keep my eye on the chart plotter.

I can't see!

 I stayed as far to the right as I dared and hoped any southbound boats would do the same.  During the time we were in the storm, I only saw green markers as all the red ones were obscured from our view!  The wind tore our burgee, mast and all, off the boat.  The waves in the Sound were hitting 7 feet and were crashing over the bow and drenching the windshield!  Abby, our beagle, who normally loves to go boating, lost her cookies.  But we made it through safely and eventually arrived in Brunswick.

In a couple of weeks, we will move her back to Savannah where we will spend some time performing some much needed renovations preparing Elixir for next spring's cruising season.








!

July 21, 2014 Wassaw Island

Wild Goose

Our daughter, Jenny, asked to take her family out for her first trip aboard Elixir, so we planned a two night excursion to Wassaw Island, a Federal Wildlife Preserve nearby.

We arrived a few days early to ready the boat and while we were making preparations, our friends, Jim and Ann, arrived at our marina aboard Wild Goose, a 43 foot Defever.

As luck would have it, there was an empty slip next to ours and so we got to be neighbors for a few days!

Jim fixes the bimini

Jim and Ann are great people and fun to be with.  Unfortunately for Jim, he is very knowledgeable on Defevers and their systems and as you know, Elixir has a lot of projects needing to be fixed.  Every time we meet up with Jim and Ann, he jumps in and solves some problem onboard Elixir.  Sometimes I feel like I am taking advantage of his time, but Jim is always volunteering none-the-less and I am always thankful for his help!

The Crew arrives

This time Jim solved a problem with Elixir's bimini where everytime the winds blew, some of the support posts came loose.  Jim fixed them so they will not come apart in the future.  He also installed new straps on the front that were much nicer than the ones I had on there!  Finally, he got the Generator's water pump unbolted from its mount (it was rusted on) so that I can tighten the belt in my ongoing project to get the Generator working.

We took Jim and Ann to Your Pie, a local pizzeria that lets each person make a personal pizza exactly how they like it, with lots of toppings to choose from.  They enjoyed it and went back for lunch the next day.  With as much as Jim and Ann have shown us, it was nice to introduce them to something!

Watching for dolphins

Wild Goose pulled out Monday morning, and a few hours later, our crew arrived.  Tori and Maddie were on point with Daryle right behind.  Jenny brought up the rear.  They loaded their provisions on board and we got underway.

Tori, having gone on the previous trip to Brunswick where everything went wrong, was an old pro.  However, it was everyone else's first cruise, so she was showing them the ropes.

Its a monster fish !!

We were hoping to see dolphins so Maddie could watch them ride the bow wave, but in the hour long trip over to Wassaw Island, we did not see one.  It could have been because a storm was blowing in and the water was a bit choppy.

We dropped anchor off Wassaw Island, which is a nature preserve that can only be reached by boat.  Daryle decided to show the girls how to fish, but not much was biting.

We spent the first night relaxing on the boat and letting everyone settle in.  The fun was set to start the following day!

Private Beach!

The next morning, us old folks took the kids to the beach while the grown-ups slept in.  One of the great things about having a boat is that you can go places where cars can't get to.  Wassaw Island is one of those places.  With about 11 miles of beach, you can often enjoy it without seeing another person.  No crowds here!

The kids played in the ocean and walked the beach searching for shells and sand dollars.  They found quite a few of both.

Rescue in progress

After a few hours, we returned to Elixir to discover the rest of the crew was up and about.  After lunch, it was over the side for some swimming off the boat.  The kids and Daryle took turns jumping off the flybridge and then climbing on to the swim platform to do it again.

Jenny tried to relax in the inflatable raft but somehow (or someone) the raft became unattached from Elixir and she was carried away by the swift current.  The kids mounted a rescue party and went to save her!

Family photo

Later in the afternoon, we all went back to the beach.  At high tide the beach is only about 10 feet wide so we like to go at low tide when it is about 200 feet wide.  As you can see by the dinghy, we arrived before low tide and had to drag the dinghy back to the water when it was time to leave.

As night fell, we had to leave as no one is allowed on the island after dark.

We ate dinner and and relaxed while everyone recounted the fun we had that day!

The next morning we weighed anchor and headed for home.

At last, the dolphins showed up and rode the bow wave.  The kids clapped and encouraged them on.  Its a treat not many kids get to enjoy, so I am always glad when they get to on board Elixir!

As we pulled into the marina and off-loaded our gear, everyone was sad to end the trip.  But hopefully the kids will have some great memories!

4th of July

Selfie of the Crew

We had planned for several months to cruise to Brunswick to visit our friends Steve and Bonita on Solemar for the 4th of July.  They had told us about how the fireworks were launched just across the water from their marina, and we thought it would be fun to have a front row seat.  So when our niece called and asked if we would take her son, Brice on a week-long trip, we figured what better time to take him.  We decided to stay two nights on the hook as we leisurely headed south.  Then we would pull into Brunswick for one night to recharge the batteries.  Next, we would head to Cumberland Island for two more nights on the hook with trips to the island to view the wild horses and spend time at the beach.  Then we would head back to Brunswick on the 3rd and stay for the fireworks on the 4th.  Finally, we would head back to Savannah on the outside to give Brice a taste of the sea.  Sounded like a plan sure to please any 14 year old!  At the last minute, our granddaughter, Tori, was able to join us so we were sure it would be a fun trip!

Filming the dolphins on the bow wave!

The day started out perfectly.  We departed Savannah on time.  The weather was great and the kids got to watch several groups of dolphins riding our bow waves.  All went according to plan until we reached our anchorage for the night.  Just as we arrived, so did a nasty storm.  We were suddenly engulfed in rain so thick that we could barely see in front of us.  We navigated by instruments and found the anchorage.  Luckily, the storm eased up just as it was time to drop the hook, but Marie still got soaked getting it set.  We realized how thick the rain was when we departed the next day and discovered we had entered through a field of crab

Storm rolling in

traps.  We had not seen one of them coming in!  We were lucky to not have gotten tangled up in them!

The anchorage, which was off Blackbeard Island, was nice.  Once the rain stopped, we tried out our brand new dinghy and took the dog for a walk.  Brice and Tori found lots of shells and horseshoe crab shells.  There is a long beach that we had all to ourselves.

By the next morning, the weather had once again cleared and we were ready to resume our trip.

The storm heads off in the background

About 4 hours into the day, the engine suddenly stopped!  Reminiscent of our breakdown in St. Augustine, it sounded like I had run out of fuel.  So we dropped anchor and I jumped down in the engine room and switched fuel tanks.  I re-primed the engine and started it back up.  After pulling up the anchor, we were off again.  For an hour.  Then the engine died again!  This time I could not get the engine to re-start, so we called for a tow.  With the engine failure, our second night on the hook was scrubbed as we were towed two hours into Brunswick Landing Marina for repairs.

First ride in the new dinghy

Our friends, Jim and Ann, on Wild Goose were still in port and met us at the dock.  Since we arrived late, repairs were put off until the next morning.

Not to leave the kids bored, Jim told us of a discarded dinghy with a slow leak.  We pumped it up and he supplied some oars.  The kids spent the rest of the evening exploring the basin and nearby beach.

Learning to raise the anchor

After Jim and I spent a good part of the day replacing filters and troubleshooting the fuel problem, we discovered the problem was me!  Or at least my lack of information about Elixir's systems.

It turns out that I had simply run out of fuel!  I had been led to believe that I had a 300 gallon capacity when in fact I only have 150 gallons.  Combine that with an equalization line I was unaware of and when I thought I was only running off one tank, I was actually draining both.  Since I was only filling one tank at a time, after awhile I was basically running with about 75 gallons when I thought I had 300.

TowBoat US to the rescue!

So I ran out of fuel!  After some quick calculations, we decided this was also the cause of our breakdown in St. Augustine during our trip to Captiva Island.

This also answered some other mysteries like why could we not balance out our starboard list caused by the spare batteries by running off the tank on that side and why did they only install a fuel sending unit on one tank.  Now it all made sense.

Row, row, row, the dinghy

Meanwhile, Marie took the kids to visit some of the stores nearby and a walk around downtown Brunswick.  While taking refuge from the heat in the shade of a church, they got invited in for cold drinks by the pastor.

Once we discovered I was in need of fuel, Jim ran me up to the gas station twice to fill up a 5 gallon can with fuel.  That gave me 10 gallons to get to a fuel dock and fill up.

Tribute to WWII veterans

That night, Jim and Ann joined us at Fox's Pizza to celebrate the ability of Elixir to get back underway!  Fox's Pizza is a favorite of ours when we visit Brunswick.  It is within walking distance of the marina and you can build the pizza your way!

After a good nights sleep with bellies full of pizza, and with 10 gallons of diesel fuel in Elixir's belly, we set off for Cumberland Island, back on schedule.  We waited until 9a.m. to leave so that we could fill up at the nearby commercial fuel dock.  With the equalization valve in the closed position, we filled both tanks and took on 150 gallons, thereby confirming Jim's calculation that my tanks were 75 gallons each instead of the 150 gallons I had believed.

Brice and Ron working on transmission

With full tanks we were off again for our adventure on Cumberland Island.  But it was not to be.  Just moments after departing the fuel dock, forward momentum died.  The engine was still running but we were not going anywhere!  I tried shifting into both forward and reverse, but nothing happened.  We were adrift in a commercial shipping channel.
I jumped down into the engine room (this was becoming a bad habit)  and tried to shift the transmission by hand, but still no power to the propeller shaft.

Brice cooks the blue crabs he caught

Once again, we called for a tow boat.  And of course, it was the same tow boat captain that had pulled us in just two days earlier!

Back at the dock, Jim again came to the rescue and began helping me troubleshoot the transmission problem.

Luckily he had all the right tools on Wild Goose, including a hoist to help remove the transmission from the engine.  Once we removed it, we discovered the damper plate was shattered.

Taking a break in the forward berth

Thankfully, it would be a much easier (and cheaper) fix than having to replace the transmission!  Unfortunately, the part would have to be overnighted from Virginia, so the trip to Cumberland was scrapped.

With two days of having to sit in the marina on their hands, the kids jumped into finding ways to have fun.  They discovered the fun of geocaching.  They went fishing and crabbing.  They investigated the town.  Both of them took the cancelled trip to Cumberland Island in stride and decided to not let it spoil the vacation!  We were proud of them!

Hanging out on Solemar

The other boaters all pitched in to help with offers from Ann to accompany them on geocaching trips.  Jim and Belinda on Rickshaw threw a banana pudding party and the kids ate it up!  Jim and Belinda are on their last leg of a two year trip around the Great Loop!  Upon arriving in North Carolina, they will have accomplished what few boaters get to do!

Steve and Benita opened up their boat, Solemar, for the kids to enjoy a 4th of July dinner and watch the fireworks!

How many Defever Owners to fix a light bulb?

Everyone offered the use of their cars to take the kids to swimming pools, shopping, or wherever!  It is great to belong to a community where everyone is so willing to help each other out!

When Hurricane Arthur formed off the coast and sent high winds our way, we realized the cancelled trip to Cumberland was a good thing!

In all, there were six Defever style boats there, but two of the owners were absent.  Five were on our dock, Wild Goose, Solemar, Y-Knot, Rickshaw, and Elixir.

Bombs bursting in air!

Our son, Josh, and his wife, Melody, unexpectedly showed up for the the celebration.  It was great to have them there!

When night fell on the 4th, we were all treated to a wonderful display of fireworks!  We were so close that we could watch the workers lighting the fireworks!  The whole city came down to the marina to watch, but we had the front row seat!

The fireworks display lasted a long time and both Brice and Tori said it was the best they had ever seen!

Brice takes a shift at the helm

Once the display was over, we said our goodbyes to Josh and Melody, who had to return to their home, and turned in to bed.  Since we had a 12 hour trip home the next day, we needed to start early.

The next morning we were up before dawn, but ended up getting a late start.  We pulled out just before 8a.m. and headed north to Savannah.

Most of the day went fine, but in the afternoon, a thunderstorm began to chase us.  We kept going and it seemed we would stay ahead of it when about 6p.m., another one appeared in front of us.

The crew is tuckered out!

 Although Elixir is built to take the rain, wind, and waves, this was a very active lighting storm so we dropped the anchor and waited it out!  I did not want to be underway if we took a direct hit.  We saw many lightning strikes very close, but none hit us, so after about 30 minutes, we lifted the anchor and headed on with the rain still falling.

We could wait no longer as we had to get through Hell's Gate and across the sandbar into our marina and the tide was falling fast.  We crossed both with nothing more than the stress of watching the depth gauge showing less than a foot beneath us.

Finally, about 9p.m., we pulled effortlessly into our slip and tied up.  The lines would have to wait until the next morning to be dressed, as dark had fallen and we could not see them well enough to work them.  The trip was over and although nothing went according to plan, we all had a good time!

Memorial Day

Sunset on the ICW

We got our next excuse to go for a cruise over Memorial Day.  We had actually hatched the idea over a month prior while visiting our friends, Steve and Bonita, on their boat, Solemar.  They planned to spend Memorial Day weekend aboard doing some repairs and we were looking for somewhere to go where we could also do some repairs to Elixir.  It all fit so we planned to cruise to their marina in Brunswick and spend the days working on our respective boats and the evenings socializing.

One of the many shrimp boats on the coast of Georgia

It was a perfect plan that only got better.  Several weeks before the planned trip, we found out that our friends from Cocoa Village Marina that we met on our trip to Captiva, Jim and Ann, were going to be staying in Brunswick over Memorial Day on their boat, Wild Goose.

But there was one more piece of good news to come.  We then got an email from Steve and Diane.  They were certified Captains that both Marie and I as well as Steve and Bonita had asked to do some training with us.  They were taking a 97 footer north to New York and would be in the Brunswick area over Memorial Day!

Bridge coming into Brunswick

It just couldn't get any better.  Four couples, all that owned Defever Trawlers, were going to be in the same Marina over Memorial Day weekend!

Steve, Bonita, Ann, Jim, and Marie enjoying Pizza

We decided to take a leisurely cruise down to Brunswick, so we left Tuesday evening.  We only cruised for 3 hours and then dropped anchor just south of St. Catherine's Sound.  Enroute, we were besieged by Horse Flies.  They weren't biting us, but there were dozens of them all over the underside of our bimini top, as well as inside the cabin.  As fast as we would kill them, more would come.  They stayed with us the entire trip.  But about 6pm. they all left!  I also discovered the ones in the cabin were easy to catch in the evening, so we were  Horse Fly free before sunset.  We enjoyed a warm peaceful evening on the hook.

The next day we made a short 5 hour hop to an anchorage just north of Brunswick.  We had the same problem with Horse Flies with the same result at the end of the day.  We dropped anchor within sight of the Bridge over the Brunswick River.

Sanctuary arrives

Thursday morning we made the last leg in to Brunswick, taking less than 3 hours to arrive.  The rest of the day was spent visiting with Steve, Bonita, Jim, and Ann.  It was great to catch up on everything that had happened since we last saw them.

Friday found Jim giving advice to both Steve and me on the mechanical systems on our boats.  Jim is considered one of the top experts on Defever Trawlers so it was great to have one-on-one time with him on our boats.  It was even better that another top expert, Steve, and his wife Diane, were due to arrive the next day aboard the Sanctuary.

Line-handling training on Solemar

In between working on the boats, we took time to walk into downtown Brunswick, located right next to the marina.  There are many shops and restaurants to visit.  A stop at the old city hall is a must and we viewed the beautiful architecture as well as learned about the history of Brunswick.  The women all got the recipe for Brunswick stew, which has been declared by official congressional declaration to have been invented in Brunswick, Georgia!  That evening, we all went to Foxes Pizza for some great pizza!

Lunch aboard Solemar

Sanctuary arrived Saturday morning, and even though Steve and Diane had traveled through the night, they jumped right in to training us since Bonita had to leave the next day.  Steve and Steve practiced docking Solemar while the women honed their line handling skills.  I played dock hand and everyone learned how to handle their boats better!

Later, Steve came aboard Elixir and gave me advice on what I needed to do to get our generator up and running!

Wild Goose flanked by Solemar to the left and Elixir
to the right.  Sanctuary can be seen in the background.

That evening, Steve and Diane went to dinner at a Thai restaurant with me and Marie.  The food was excellent and it was really nice to get to know Steve and Diane better.  We had a great time and look forward to visiting with them more in the future.

On Memorial Day, the marina held a BBQ for all the boaters.  They provided the BBQ and we each brought a side dish to be shared by all.  After the meal everyone introduced themselves and told what boat they were on.  It was interesting to hear where the various people were from and where they were going.

Memorial Day BBQ

We departed early Tuesday morning to make a long one day run back to Savannah.  The sun rose just as we passed under the bridge and it looked to be a beautiful day.  The weather forecast was decent so we decided to go outside.  We passed the Saint Simons Island Lighthouse on our way to the ocean.  It took nearly 2 hours to reach open ocean where we could finally turn north, but our ability to travel in a straight line up the coast at 7.8 knots made it well worth the time.  The trip outside was almost 3 hours shorter than travelling the ICW.

Sunrise on the Brunswick River

Our trip outside had several firsts.  I saw my first large sea turtle at sea.  It surfaced right in front of Elixir and I had to take evasive maneuvers to keep from hitting it.  It was over 3 feet across its back and dove as soon as it saw me bearing down on it!

I also saw my first shark.  Although it was small, probably less than 4 feet in length, it swam directly across my bow and had to scurry out of my way!

Saint Simons Island Lighthouse

Swarm of Fish

Steve and Bonita's Lake House

I also saw several schools of fish that stirred up the surface of the water so that it looked like it was raining.  I don't know what they were doing but they would stay in one spot so long that I would spot them in the distance and watch until I would pass right by them and they would still be visible as they passed out of sight far behind me.

We all had so much fun that Steve and Bonita decided to keep it going by inviting us and Jim and Ann to their lake house the following weekend. Steve and Diane had to continue taking Sanctuary north so they could not attend.

Jim and Steve play on the ski-doos

Marie also could not come since she was scheduled to fly out to New Mexico to visit her mother.  So Steve, Bonita, Jim, Ann, and myself all gathered at Steve and Bonita's lake house for more fun and relaxation!
They have a beautiful home and are great hosts so we had a wonderful time!

All in all it will be a Memorial Day to remember!