Iona College Freshman

Did I mention that my oldest grandson, Brendan, has left us all and gone away to college? I am really missing him but I know he is having a great time.

He is attending Iona College in New Rochelle, New York and playing soccer - his first love. Here is a link. He has already been into The City a couple of times which is a real switch from our laid back southern living. His brother, Casey, is flying up to visit him this weekend and I am sure the two of them will have a blast!

Brendan, if you see this - I sure do miss you.

Nova Scotia Vacation

I finally got my pictures uploaded from our vacation. You can click right HERE to be taken directly to them.

Orhan Atasoy

"So, you are from California. You smoke grass?" I had met Orhan Atasoy that afternoon while walking my dog in the boatyard in Deale, Maryland. We struck up a conversation about going cruising. It was 2005 and Kirby and I were at Herrington Harbor with our sailboat, TOBIAS, getting it ready to cruise. Orhan invited us over for cocktails on his boat that night so that we could talk about cruising. Those were just about his first words to us as we settled into the comfy cabin of his Tayana '37.

We learned yesterday that Orhan passed away last week after battling liver cancer. We will miss him so much. He was one of our "character" friends, so very precious and important to us. Orhan was Turkish. He was a Turkish Rock Star and is on YouTube....you can look him up. (you just won't be able to understand the lyrics to his song.) He had had a very interesting life and loved sharing exciting stories with us.

When TOBIAS was ready to go we decided to make a practice run to make certain that everything worked properly. We headed out into the Chesapeake following Orhan as he sailed "Melody". He lead us to a wonderful anchorage where we tied up together for the night and enjoyed cocktails aboard our boat.

When we decided to sell TOBIAS, he painted the bottom for us after we left because he didn't like the way it looked. He was a true friend - a perfect example of what a friend should be. He was there whenever we needed a hand on the boat or someone to drink a cold beer with. He loved his children and talked of them often.

We miss him.

Update - 6/10/2012 - Follow this link for a recipe from Orhan!

Update - 6/26/12 - Follow this link for more information

The Cat

And you thought I was finished with vacation didn't you? But don't you know we still have miles and miles to travel? We still are going to have some fun!

When we sailed our sailboat, TOBIAS, from Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia we saw a big, big wake on the ocean and wondered what could be making a wake like that. And when we approached Yarmouth we were required to report our position to the port captain. It was "The Cat". The Cat is over 300 feet long and travels between Maine and Nova Scotia at 40 knots! Hence - the huge wake! And the port captain needs to know because it goes so fast, you better be out of the way!

Since that time we have wanted to ride it. So, we did. After our tour of Port Royal we headed to Yarmouth where we had first landed in Nova Scotia 3 years ago. We had fun seeing this charming city again. Then it was time to wait in line to board the ferry. I don't know how many cars/RV's/motorcyles it holds but there were many of us and we were boarded by weight in order to balance the load. We left Yarmouth and were in Bar Harbor 3 hours later. But - it was another hour and a half before we cleared customs and were on our way to a motel for the night. All the waiting in line almost spoiled the whole experience. Even the people walking had to wait in line a long time at the gate. Oh, well, this is what our world is about now. I feel so much safer!! Sure.

We were very happy to be able to experience going so fast over the water after going only 8 knots or so in our boat!

Nova Scotia 8 - Port Royal

The last day of our Nova Scotia vacation suddenly arrived and we said good-bye to Rick and Tanya so they could get ready for their trip to Africa and Safari! We headed south to Yarmouth and on the way we stopped at Port Royal National Historic Site. The Port Royal Habitation is a reconstruction of a small French compound originally begun in 1605. In 1613 it was destroyed by a Captain from Virginia.

The reconstruction of the fort was begun in 1939 - the efforts of a Virginia woman. It is one of the best replications I have ever seen and we enjoyed it immensely.


Somehow Kirby's jacket and cap just don't go.

Not Nova Scotia

Is everyone getting tired of my vacation? Well, here is a break from it. Last weekend I was at the kitchen sink when movement on the screened porch caught my eye. We had a little visitor. I have never seen one of our squirrels be so bold. I carefully opened the slider, put my arm through it and clicked - hoping for a picture. Cute little guy isn't he?

And, don't worry, I still have some pictures and some stories from my vacation to Nova Scotia!

Nova Scotia 7 - Hot Day

On our trip to Nova Scotia we planned on cooling down from the heat of South Carolina. Wrong! The heat (and the hurricane) went with us. It was 90 degrees plus the whole time we were there. We spent a lot of time outside.
In this picture is Kirby, Tanya, Jeff (Rick's brother), Joan (Jeff's wife) and Rick. I am missing because I took the picture. This was a hot afternoon and we decided to eat lunch outside. We are enjoying the most wonderful in the world Lunenburg Sausage! I love that stuff and tried so hard to find a way to take some home with us but it just didn't work....no way to do it especially with customs - even if we hadn't have been dealing with raw meat!

So, anyway, we had never met Jeff and Joan before - in person- so this was a real treat for us! They were as wonderful as we thought they would be.
In order to earn their lunch Rick and Kirby had to clean the dinghy and get it ready for winter storage. They did a good job so we let them eat.

Then to beat the heat we all headed down to the basement. Rick and Tanya resisted and screamed and yelled but we didn't care what the basement looked like - we wanted cool. (we do expect the basement to be completely remodeled and decorated by next visit)



And of course, being Pub Lover's we had to make the trip to Lunenburg to go to the Knot Pub. We had been there 3 years ago and never forgot it. How could you forget a pub as charming as this. Not only did we have good ale but we had hamburgers made from the famous Lunenburg Sausage!


And this picture - well, what can I say? We don't see sights like this in our cozy little developments with all the rules to keep the neighborhoods oh, so perfect. I loved it and it only seemed appropriate that it be in Black & White.

Nova Scotia 6 - Sailing!

Ah, to be out sailing on Mahone Bay again after 3 years! It was the best. Mahone Bay has "An Island for Every Day". There are 365 islands or outcroppings in the bay and it is just gorgeous and the very best sailing. We chose Thursday when the forecast was for lots of sun and light winds. Rick and Tanya keep Auriga on a mooring so we dinghyed out to begin our day.




Tanya, ever the perfect hostess, provide nice munchies and Rick provided the cold beer.
After all of our time in the Intracoastal Waterway, the Chesapeake and the Bahamas we had become accustomed to shallow water and often anchored in 10 feet or even less. I sort of panicked when I saw the depthometer climbing to a depth of 88 feet! Dizzying effect almost!
We sailed over to Chester and took a spin by the restarant where Kirby and I had celebrated our anniversary 3 years ago. We had sat outside for just a few minutes and then asked for a table indoors as it was freezing outside. We would have enjoyed some of that coolness on this trip. It was really hot the whole time we were there.

Nova Scotia 5

We were certainly well fed by Rick and Tanya while we were there. Just look at this beautiful piece of Atlantic Salmon that Rick cooked on the grill - on a plank. It was fantastic! Too bad Kirby doesn't like salmon...but then that left more for the rest of us!




Life with the Townkids means a party all the time. We do it very well!

And we love Mexican Train! Do you think Tanya might be winning? Just look at the devilish grin! And speaking of devilish grins..........here's Kirby!

Nova Scotia 4

I knew it was going to take a few postings to cover our vacation. I am sorry if I am boring you with all of this - my only excuse is that I had such a good time I want to share it!

Rick and Tanya took us on a local tour of the area. We saw the Bay of Fundy, some mud dikes, views of the Annapolis Valley and we drank some great ales - again!

Here are some pictures.
This is Hall's Harbor on the Bay of Fundy. The tide will go out about 40 feet here. I would have loved to have seen the mud and the boats sitting in it but our timing wasn't aligned with the tides. So, we had "pretty" instead. And here are some pix of us. Kirby, Suzie, Rick, and Tanya

This is me with my best girlfriend, Tanya. In one of our crazy cruising moments a few years ago we decided to share our names. She is Tanzie and I am Suya. Silly old women is what Kirby says!

This is a view of the Annapolis Valley. Nova Scotia has a very short growing season but boy, do they ever grow great produce in the time they have.

This picture was taken by my turning around from the last one and clicking. It was an old house on top of the hill overlooking the valley.This is the Dike at Wolfville, NS. It was built to help prevent flooding. To learn a little more about Nova Scotia dikes just click HERE.
And last but not least - a trip to the pub! Fun, Fun, Fun.