A visit in Jacksonville and our first meeting up with another H37c owner!

We awoke at about 4:30 PM, and hailed over to Martijn who had arrived a couple of hours behind us. We had a nice relaxing evening and set a plan to head over to the free town docks in the morning with the tides.  In the AM, we checked out the half sunken wreck that was nearby, salvaging a small piece of teak grate which we’ve used in the head where the grate was missing, and then all headed over to the town docks.  As we were about to depart, we got a call from John and Pat!  They were also in Jacksonville, at another free dock on the way to the town docks.  We motored the couple of miles up the river, passing John and Pat’s boat, and put in at the town dock at about noon.  I’d called our contact at Moran, who kindly offered to bring our parts to us when we arrived, and lo and behold, he and two colleagues had had a meeting downtown, and had thought to bring the parts with them.  We had a nice lunch with them before collecting our parts and returning to the boat where we met up with John and Pat and had a nice little visit.  Right after we parted ways with them, a gentleman came over to our boat to ask us a few questions…. he was living aboard a sister boat to ours, the Free Spirit, in the marina across the way, and had come over to ask us a few questions about modifications and improvements we’ve made to Three Sheets.  When we started talking to Jeff about our refrigeration issues, and inquired about whether there was and auto parts store that he knew of close byhe offered to take us to the closest store, which was about 5+ miles away, and while we were out also took us for a run over to the super Walmart where I was able to stock up on some groceries and a few other items that had been lingering on our list for the past couple of weeks.  So kind!  When he brought us back to the docks about 2 hours later, laden with our spoils from our excursion, he invited us to come over to the marina later and to avail ourselves of their showers as his guest.  We thanked him for his kindness, and told him that we’d probably see him a little later.  He went to “rescue” his car before the meter maids came for it, and I went about storing our supplies, while Brian tackled the refrigeration issue.  Unfortunatley, the connection on the refrigerant replacement cannister wasn’t the correct size for the unit.  DRAT!  We rallied Martijn, and headed across the river in the Portabote to snag a shower (which was nice and hot although not the nicest facilites we’d been in by far) thanked our host Jeff again for his help, and headed back over the river to the warmth in Martijn’s boat provided by his wood stove.  We’d chatted briefly with two guys who were hired crew on another boat tied up on the free dock while we were taking turns in the shower, and as we were sitting in Martijn’s salon enjoyng a nightcap, they came walking down the dock with a bevvy of baloons that they’d gotten at Hooters for the little boy who was aboard their boat.  I called out a hello to them, and Greg asked if we’d been successful in getting ice.  When I replied no, he suggested that we run back up to Hooters and see if we could get some ice from them as they were closing up for the evening.  I threw on my shoes, and we hustled up the gangplank and into Hooters, where they kindly gave us about 20lbs of ice!  Wahoo!  We put the bags of ice onto our deck, and then went back over to Martijn’s for a little while longer before calling it a night.
The next morning, we decided to take the “big boat” over to the marina across the way so that we could refuel, get some water and perhaps prevail on them to let us use their laundry.  Unfortunately, their laundry system - well really the driers - was really SLOW.  It took us about 4+ hours all in all to do two loads of laundry!!  While I was up doing that, Brian did some tinkering with the engine and some ordering of things on the boat.  By the time I was done, it was almost 2PM.  We crossed back over to the free dock and tied up in front of Martijn, finally getting some access to WiFi, and after a brief discussion, we made the decision to leave in the early AM for St. Augustine, leaving Martijn behind in Jacksonville.  In the meantime, we had another really nice, and too brief, visit with John and Pat, who were out and about in town and swung by to say hello before heading back to their dock, which although a nice location - had the down side of being attached to a park that was locked up at dusk.  I cooked up a nice roast - yay pressure cooker - and we shared a last evening and meal with Martijn for the next while… until we cross paths again.

3 Responses

  1. Wendell Says:

    I love pressure cooker cooking… try this sometime.

    PRESSURE COOKER CHICKEN CHILI

    Add to a pressure cooker and stir to combine:

    1 1/2 pounds of coarse ground, raw chicken breasts *
    1 bottle of beer
    1/2 of a 16 ounce jar medium heat salsa (by weight)
    1 teaspoon ground cumin
    1 tablespoon chili powder
    1 chopped chipotle pepper (canned, in Adobo sauce)
    1 tablespoon Adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers can)
    1 tablespoon tomato paste
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    1 minced garlic clove

    Place on top of the stirred mixture:

    10 large tortilla chips

    Pressure cook for 10 minutes; allow natural cool
    down for 15 minutes more (still under pressure with the heat off).

    Stir in one can:

    Kidney Beans (add their juice if the chili is too thick)

    Serve topped with:

    Grated extra sharp cheddar cheese

    * If you don’t have a grinder, slice and chop the breasts to 1/4 inch (the smaller the better).

  2. julie ogilvie Says:

    Hey lynn and brian - looks like your journey is going well! Hope you stay safe. Kitty is too cute. Have fun, think of all us landlocked cube dwellers as you sail along in open seas!

  3. Jim Barker Says:

    Hey guys, I have been following your voyage with great interest, having taken the trip several times in Shawondasee. There is a great island in the keys, called Palm Island. It is a hoot. Very romantic. Food is great, pool etc. Very posh. If you want to go there, Kaye and I will stake you to 2 nights at the island, all expenses paid. Call it an engagement present. If you have interest let me know and I will make arrangements. The cat is not welcome on the island but can stay on the boat. Good luck with your voyage. We loved the Bahamas, the Exumas were very special. Don’t miss them. I assume you have the books. Warmest regards, Jim Barker P.S. If you like, I will get you a room there (thatched bungelows for the two days).

Leave a Comment

Please note: Comment moderation is enabled and may delay your comment. There is no need to resubmit your comment.