Day 175, 19 July 2010, Going home!

Tomorrow we fly back to South Africa, to winter!

We have had an amazing holiday full of so many memorable moments and achievements, so much more than we could have ever imagined.

We have made so many new friends and its been so special meeting Roberts family. Everyone has opened their homes and hearts to us and we are so blessed.

I thank God for keeping us safe and giving us flat seas.

To all our followers out there, thank you for your comments, it was great to know you were there.

Vermont, Mount Snow

Lisa and John took us walking in the woods of Mount Snow in Vermont. This is the furthest North we have been, almost in Canada.
We saw a Beaver house/nest in the little dam there, so cool. It was wonderful walking in the cool trees. This area becomes a snow ski resort in winter, unfortunately the ski lift was closed on a Monday, but we got to see the slopes.

ice cream!

So what does one do when its sooo hot, eat ice cream! Yesterday Lisa and Johnathan took us to a small dairy farm that makes delicious ice creams. I had a caramel flavour with tiny marshmallows and biscuits and chocolate! yummy!
The countryside looks so British, we could have been in Cornwall. Hence these NW states are grouped as New England. Its so pretty here, quaint towns with lots of woodlands. The buck/deer are plentiful and we have seen many alive and dead on the roadside.
On the way home we stopped at a good old fashioned dinner in Bethel. Just as you see in the old movies. They had a vintage car show/car hop on. My dream car the 1958/9 corvette was there, in fact two of them. In mint condition.

New York and Connecticut

Well our trusted Garmin navigation device decided we needed a tour of New York and instead of going north to Connecticut, it took us south right through New York! Crossing Brooklyn Bridge was the only spot with no traffic...we sat for 3 hours in traffic. Got a close look at a very old and dirty city. Quite a contrast from everywhere else we have been.
Connecticut is very green and pretty. Roberts cousin Lisa took us to see the Nautilus, the first atomic sub. It had 150 men on board, we got to chat to a sailor on subs, very interesting.

Seared Tuna

We were treated to a really great meal on the river. This is seared Tuna, from Hawai, served with Wasabi and ginger. I had a crab cake, good food.

Pittsburgh

We drove from the Skyline pass north to Pittsburgh. It was great seeing old friends again, here Rob and Chris copy the statue of George Washington talking to the Indian Chief.
The Ohio river starts here when these two rivers meet.

Last trip map

We are now in Pittsburgh with ex SA friends. It was a wonderful drive here, on the back roads ,threw the mountains.

They have a home that backs onto a forest. Last night while braaing outside we watched a buck come to lick a salt rock put there to attract them.

The other night life was the fire flies, hundreds of them. Haven't seen them since I was a child. Its much cooler here.

Tomorrow we leave for Wilton, just north of New York. We will meet more of Roberts extended family.

Blue Ridge Parkway

We spent 2 days travelling the beautiful Blue Ridge mountain passes. This leads into the Skyline pass which is in a National Park. It rained all of the second day so there was nothing to see, other than the pretty winding roads. We saw 6 buck along the way and lots of bikers. This area has brown bear in it and they are seen at this time of year with the cubs.

We had soup for lunch...it was cold up there in the rain.

wine shop

Found this cute sign in a Charleston wine shop.

I am looking forward to a good glass of red wine again. Its been too hot on the boat to drink red wine, White and Rose were the best.

Rob on Skype

Here Rob is sitting on yacht Indigo chatting to his brother in SA via Skype. Its been great to chat to friends and family on Skype, technology is amazing!

Charleston, South Carolina

From Florida we drove through Georgia on to Charleston, S Carolina.
On the amazing freeways that just go on and on, mostly 3 lanes each way. There are so many vehicles on the road, including many RV's (camper vans). The roads are lined by tall trees, makes it a good driving experience.
Charleston is a very pretty city to tour, with many of these old houses with big balconies.

The best was meeting up with Lynne and Mike from Yacht Indigo again. We spent the night on their yacht and then they left for Norfork. They need to move North before the Hurricanes arrive.

Farewell to Florida

So this was our last sunset in Florida. We drove to St Augustine on our way to New York.
Florida is a wonderful state, with lots to do and see.

Big boat haul

This boat was hauled out using the same lift with 9 slings, we had 2 slings! She weighs 240 Tons! Its amazing to see all the different boats here.

This company also builds boats, they are presently building a 90 foot speed boat with

2, 4800 hp motors, its top speed will be 60 miles per hour! It will chew up 600 gallons of Diesel per hour! Diesel here is an average of $3.60 a gallon.

They could get to West End in the Bahamas in 1 hour...using all the fuel it took us to cross the ocean!

Final resting

It was sad to leave her there but Sea Wolff is safe and sound with the company of about 200 other boats, all taken out for the summer season. Summer is low season here as its too hot and of course the hurricane's stop the boating.

We will now start the next leg of our holiday, a scenic drive to New York.

Lowering into place

Finally, wooden blocks are put down and she was lowered onto them...SLOWLY

Moving to a new spot

After the wash, Sea Wolff was moved to her new resting spot on land. 18 Tons hanging in the slings.

Out of the water

Once out, they moved her to the wash bay where the high pressure water spray cleaned the hull.

At last we are 'hauling' her out

We arrived in Stuart yesterday and did the final preparations to take Seawolff out of the water. Today we drove her onto the slings in the water and the lift pulled her out. Scary watching her being lifted!

Sreened areas

We travelled past homes that have outdoor areas covered in screens to keep the bugs out. I can understand this as at sunset they come out to bite me!

Manatee

This is a manatee and we see them occationally in the rivers. We've only seen its back and tail.

They eat the greenery in the water.

Inter coastal waterway

This is a photo from our navigation book. It shows the inter coastal waterway from left to right with a small marina branching off it and that's the Atlantic Ocean at the top. It runs all the way to the north of America and then into the great lakes and back south to the Gulf of Mexico.

Lacrosse

Here Robert is trying his hand at Lacrosse. He was practicing against a wall, its normally played on a field like hockey but they throw the ball to each other. The ball bounces and you have to keep moving the stick to keep it in the net. Howards son plays the sport. Lots of hand and arm protection is worn as they get hit while trying to get the ball from each other.

Party Flat

Along the Inter Coastal waterway we passed this block of flats, this guy has a permanent party going on!

Inter Coastal waterway

Driving in the ICW is very peaceful, its nearly all a 'no wake' zone so its slow progress, but we get time to see the beautiful houses along the way.

fireworks preparation

While waiting for a bridge to open we watched these chaps preparing a barge with fireworks holders. Sad we wont be seeing this display its looks like it will be huge. Its 4th of July on Sunday, Independence day, so lots of festivity.

House on barge

Just when we thought we had seen it all this huge barge comes down the river. Pretty design, not sure if its a home or office.

We left New River doc just after this and said our sad farewells to our friends in the other catamarans. We have been here for 6 weeks and loved every minute. New River leads into the Inter Coastal Waterway and we turned North on our way to Stuart. Its not far and we plan to stop on the river along the way. There are 23 bridges to consider, all of which need to open for us.