Category: USA

Captain George and first Mate Bonnie!
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Captain’s License

I (George) recently got my boat captain’s license from the U.S. Coast Guard and let me tell you the process was not straight forward! There are a lot of prerequisites. In fact it was so complicated that we decided to make a video to walk others through the process.

The good news is that I got it all done, I am now fully licensed.

So if you need your boat delivered on the East Coast or in the Caribbean, or if you have a charter boat and are looking for a captain and first mate, Bonnie and I are ready!

You can watch the video here…

USA

So Much History!

Despite all our global traveling, we realized that there is so much of our home country that we have yet to explore. To that end, we have set off in a trek across America. Our route will take us up the east coast, across the northern part of the United States, on an Alaskan cruise, down the West Coast and then, once more, across the southern part of the country. (FYI – This will be our second trip from east to west and our third cross country since August 2023 😮).

Our low budget travels are made possible, by:

      1. Thousands of miles driven in a Toyota Rav4 that was generously loaned to us by George’s brother, Frank.
      2. Many family members and friends who have or will host us along the way.
      3. Extensive use of the Trusted House Sitters program.

At present we find ourselves house sitting for Dimitri, an extremely vocal but very lovable, yellow cat. Dimitri and his people live in Franklin Massachusetts, which is about an hour outside of Boston. We know this because earlier this week we traveled into Boston to see our dear friend Fred run the Boston Marathon.

As school children we learned of much of the history of Boston, the “tea party”, “one if by land and two if by sea” and all of that. We had no idea, however, about the amazing history of the small town of Franklin.

The town of Franklin was established in 1860. It was originally planned to be called Exeter, but as was the custom at the time at the last minute they changed the name of honor one of the heroes of the American Revolution. In this case, it was the statesman Benjamin Franklin. This was the first town that had been named after him.

By reading plaques and exhibits around town we learned some of the fascinating details about the town’s history. It seems that a local pastor suggested, that since the town was named after him and all, it might be appropriate for Ben Franklin to contribute a bell for the steeple of the local public meeting house. Meeting houses in those days were often Protestant churches, and or facilities for paying subscribers.

Franklin wrote back and advised that he was honored to be the namesake of the town, but that he did not wish to contribute a bell, which would only mean that the townspeople would have to pay to erect a steeple. Instead, he suggested that he provide an endowment of a specific set of (116) books that he and his family had chosen. His logic here was that: “sense is more important than sound”. While there were those who wished to keep the collection private, the townspeople voted to make it public. Thus, the very first public book lending library was established in the USA.

The library now is nothing short of breathtaking and very actively used by the proud citizens of Franklin. Among the early users of that library was local lad by the name of Horace Mann. Despite very little formal education in his early years, Mann made extensive use of the library. This enabled his acceptance to Brown University at age 20. He got his law degree and later became the Secretary of the newly formed Massachusetts Board of Education. Mann’s work there led him to become widely known as the father of the American public education program.

No doubt we will continue to learn interesting tidbits during our walks around Franklin over the few days.

From here we’re off to see Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore, Deadwood city and so much more of America…

 

USA

I Love New York

We spent just over a month in the “city that never sleeps”. Despite rumors to the contrary, we found Now Yorkers to the exceptionally friendly (that is except for a couple of UBER drivers). The city has a vibrancy that is infectious, and you can feel it walk through any of the diverse neighborhoods. Definitely a walking town, by the way, we found that we averaged 4 or 5 miles per day…

Our stay was made up a combination of two hotels, and two house sits. We fell in love with three local cats that we sat for: Sena, Basil and Sage. We sang along to Jimmy Buffet songs in the Margaritaville Hotel in Times Square and wondered at the amazing costumes of the Lion King on Broadway.

Sena
Sena
Basil and Sage (The Spice Boys)
Basil and Sage (The Spice Boys)

Lucky for us, several family members were able to come and visit. We spent time with George’s mom and niece (B.J. and Sydney), did a pub crawl with Bonnie’s cousin Marcia and her partner Cheryle and ate amazing food with George’s sister Martye and her partner Bryan.

We became absolute experts at navigating via the subway and wandered from the top of Washington Heights to Coney Island, with museums, libraries, shops and bars in between.

NYC_MTA Map
NYC_MTA Map
The Original Nathan's Coney Island
The Original Nathan's Coney Island
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium
Empire State Bldg
Empire State Bldg

During a bus tour of the city, we were advised that the restaurants in hell’s kitchen were better and about 15% cheaper than the ones on times square, we tested this theory and found it to be true. We went on an exhaustive search for the best cannoli in Little Italy and were introduced to amazing other pastries like the bamboloni (a crème filled Italian doughnut).

           

One of our stays included daily delivery of the New York Times, so we fell into the habit of doing the crosswords. A little-known fact the puzzles start out easy on Monday and get harder throughout the week. As we continue to travel, we are now doing the crossword online and enjoying it every morning!

download

Even after a month of intensive tourist things we feel as if we have barely scratched the surface of the amazing city. It is sure that we will be back to take another bite out of the “Big Apple”.

NYC Sunset MMC
USA

Back on Land

It has been a while since we posted on our our blog, we promise we will do better.

To say the past couple of months have been busy would be an understatetment. We, along with the Smith family, left South Africa and sailed Private Island accross the Atlantic ocean, with a stop in Saint Helena, and another stop on an Island off the coast of Brazil (Fernando do Naronha). From there we sailed up to Grenada. In Grenada, the Smith family headed home and we added two new crew members. The first was Judy Nelson, an old friend and regular at our neighborhood bar in San Diego. Judy brought along, Gary Clark, a childhood friend from Massachusetts. After a short delay in Grenada, the four of us sailed the boat up through the Carribean and into Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The Caribbean leg was amazing. Luckily, since we fell down on the blogging/video job, Gary picked up our slack and wrote an epic poem (see the end of this post), which decsribes our journey .

The journey from South Africa was definitely a “bucket list” adventure. However, somewhere along the way between South Africa and Fort Luaderdale; Bonnie and I came to a realization…While we enjoy being on boats and island hopping around the Carribbean; ocean crossings are just not our thing. Since sailing the boat to different destinations (ie: Atlantic to the Mediterraean, and back) was a major portion of the gig on Private Island, we have resigned our commision as crew and moved back onto land.

Before we even left the boat, our schedule starting filling up. We went to meet up with friends
in Las Vegas and San Diego (many thanks for Van and
Christopher for opening their home to us again!)

 

 

 

 

And then to Victoria, British Columbia for a housesit with an adorable labradoodle
named Chutney

Now we are doing a house sit in New York city with two very playful cats

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From here, we are off to Europe, starting with Spain.

Watch this space to keep up with our crazy life…..

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A Long Starboard Tack On The “Private Island”

By Gary Clark

She called out of the blue

And said How-Do-You-Do

It’s kind of sudden and maybe rude

But you once told me you’d work for food

 

Not rude at all

For a trip like this

A sail up the leewards

Is more like bliss

 

A California Girl

A Captain and his wife

We land in Grenada

And begin our new life

 

The quick trip to the “Private Island”

A yacht beyond compare

She’ll take you around the world

But only if you dare

 

Port engine is giving us trouble

Twice we were on our way

But it’s back to the Marina we go

Hopefully just for a day

 

Third time is a charm

We head for Prickley Bay

Fill her up with fuel

And we’re finally on our way

 

Day after day

Night after night

Our Journey is long

But our course is right

 

The seas have been huge

The ride has been tough

But we’re a strong crew

And no one has made a fuss

 

We’re all very tired

But nobody is breakin’

Tonight in Puerto Rico

The drinks will be shaken

 

We anchor in a cove in P.R.

Enjoy an amazing meal from Brazil

We leave in the morning

For three days with not much of a thrill

 

More of the same

As we march on

Next stop Grand Turk

Some time after dawn

 

Two days on the hook
Rejected by Grand Turk

Covid rules are a pain

And the Dock Man is a jerk

 

We pull up to the dock for fuel
The men tie us up with glee

But when we go to leave

They want a hundo to set us free

 

They see the fancy yacht
With stars in their eyes

But we won’t be held hostage

By low life dock flies

 

I climb up on the dock

And set us free

Captain George backs her out

Without paying the fee

 

As the boat glides by

It’s too far down to make the jump

So I head to the end of the dock

And dive into the water with a big ol’thump

 

Back to the hook

Some repairs to get done

Two days to Rum Cay

For another night of fun

 

We head out of Grand Turk

But the winds are light

Too late in the day for Rum Cay

So it is on to Cat Island for the next night

 

A beautiful cove, a beach of white sand

To the restaurant for drinks and dinner

Caipirinha’s and some new friends

Music and laughs are always a winner

 

It is so peaceful and relaxing

We enjoy the next day

Next stop the Berry Islands

Thirty three hours away

 

We land at Great Harbour Cay

My daughter, family and girlfriend to greet us

The owner’s of Soul Fly Lodge

A fly fishing destination that is a MUST

 

Two days of hugs and love

Young Micah is growing fast

We enjoy the time we have

But we know it is not going to last

 

The last leg to Florida

Following the pink line

We arrive at Port Everglades

And everything is fine

 

We navigate the narrow, winding “New River”

Past lots of bridges and boats

It’s a tricky ride but George is a pro

We pull into the Marina and we’re still afloat

 

George and Bonnie are top notch

They’re just really awesome folks

It’s been a great journey

With many laughs and lots of jokes

 

Three weeks at sea

Lots of time for reflection

But it’s nice to be home

Now we will all head off in another direction

Knysna 55 “Private Island”
South Africa

Our Next Adventure: Life on a “Private Island”

After our extended quarantine in Mexico and a nice house sit in Arizona, it is time for us to move on to our next big adventure!
On Friday November 6th: we are traveling to South Africa where a beautiful new 55 foot catamaran is being built by Knysna Yacht Company. When it is eventually completed, we will move on board and become the live-aboard caretakers for this handsome new yacht.
Right now the boat is still ‘on the hard’ at the builders location. It will go into the water in mid January and we will move on the boat a few days after that.
 
A bit more about this sailing catamaran: it is being built for, and owned by, our Australian friends Ray and Tania Smith. It has four cabins, each with it’s own shower and toilet. To say that this boat will have all of the modern conveniences would be an understatement; we are definitely looking forward to it.
So what does live aboard caretakers mean? Well in short, we will be on the boat to make sure it is taken care of and delivered to wherever Ray, Tania and their son Eddie want it to be when they get ready to use it. Bonnie will look after the care and feeding of the passengers on board, George will take care of all the regular maintenance and repairs and we both will take our turns sailing the boat during our ‘watch at the helm’ while we’re in transit.
What can you expect from us going forward? We will be producing LOTS of new video blogs; these will include adventure videos, sailing logs and how-to videos on repairs and etc. In short, pretty much everything we do on board will become the subject of a blog story or video.
So whether we are sunning in the Caribbean, lounging in the Med or moving the boat from one location to another, you can track our adventures, learn about the gear we are using and just see what we’re up to on board this new vessel called “Private Island”
USA

Art’s Chicken Wings and the Orion Cooker

We spent a few days in the beautiful North Georgia community of Big Canoe.We picked up our buddy Jim St Leger at the airport and headed north. Our friends Art and Jaqueline hosted us in grand style, and their daughter Nicole did her wizardry in the kitchen throughout our visit.

But when it came time for outside cooking, Art whipped out a new invention I had not seen before, the Orion Cooker. 

Suffice it to say the wings were amazing, and I vowed to make a blog post about them and the new cooker. Hearing this, and knowing that Art, Jim and I love to make music together, Art suggested that we record some music, which we did. Art had written a piece inspired by the midnight grumblings of their dog Sophie. So the day after the amazing wing adventure, we headed into the studio to record “Sophie’s Reel”.

Recipe and cooking video are below, you can see more about the recording session at the end of the video:

Dry Rub Mix

  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper more for hotter wings
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper

Preparation

  1. Rinse wings (about 10 per person) and load into a shallow bowl
  2. Cover the wings in buttermilk and refrigerate overnight
  3. Rinse wings and pat dry
  4. Sprinkle spice rub over wings and toss to coat
  5. Arrange in a single layer (per rack) in the smoker
  6. Smoke for about 45 minutes
  7. Enjoy with celery, carrots and ranch, or blue cheese, dressing

USA

Back in the USA

So we’ve been back in the states for 2 weeks now. The trip from Thailand was way too long – about 35 hours from there to ATL. In hindsight, given that we weren’t on a fixed schedule, we should have broken the trip somewhere in the middle. By the time we finally arrived, we collected our bags, got to the hotel, showered and crashed. The splurge to use points on the Westin Peachtree Plaza for our first night was almost wasted given how dog tired we were when we arrived – but only almost.  We spent our first week back recovering from jet lag and catching up with family and friends. Our next step was to head South to complete our “move” to Florida.

We got our new Driver’s licenses and library cards. We’re staying with dear friends in Pass-A-Grille Florida (just outside St. Petersburg). Although we both grew up in Florida (George in the panhandle and Bonnie in So. Fl.) neither of us have spent any time in Tampa/St. Pete. Pass-A-Grille is a very cute tourist town with some great neighborhoods.

One of the fun things in this neighborhood is the clever mailboxes, here are a few examples: