Progress

We are currently in Fernanadina, FL, about to leave for Georgia
waters. Blog has been updated.
Vinnie and Maria

The city was beautiful; even the canons were decorated nicely.

In St. Augustine we visited Castillo de San Marco. This fort protected the Spanish soldiers and citizens of St. Augustine for hundreds of years. It was a remarkable star shaped stucture with domed rooms and a dry moat. Near by was Mose. The Spanish gave freedom and this place to live to escaped slaves who pledged allegience and service to Spain and the Catholic church.

On the way to St. Augustine we stopped at Fort Matanzas. This lovely inlet was named "slaughter" in Spanish after 100's of French soldiers were executed there on the beach.

We've been cruising up the ICW and enjoying This was a morning just south of Merritt Island. We were anchored near a tiny, noname island for a beautiful sunrise and a chorus line of dolphins.

But before we leave the home for wayward boats, this is a piece of local legend. This old wooden boat (about 60 feet) is owned by a man in prison. He pays the storage fees and dreams of being released and sailing away. But she sits in the yard, rotting quietly with her masts falling and keel broken. Or so the legend says.

She's in.

Thanks to Wendy and Olivier, Neptune was appeased with a bottle of champagne rather than a trickle of beer. Amante was christened and ready to launch. Vinnie was christened as well.

Olivier and Wendy on their newly launched "Belum". After 11 months of hard work and major renovations, they are preparing to sail to South America and adventures away from the dock. Belum means "not yet" in Indonesian and they learned its meaning first hand, both during their work there in International aide and with the uncertainties of boat building. Ciao Bella.

Outboard Motor

A 'small' outboard motor repair turned into a larger project. I now
know the tender's outboard inside and out!

Merritt Island

Nicholas and Alessia came to visit last week. One trip took us to the
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Nice beach, and lots of
wildlife. Got to see Manatees and Aligators, a sucessful trip.

They're off

We've shared our corner of the boat yard with several other live
aboard would be sailors. Of the four boats, John and Lyle are the
first of us to get launched. It was wonderful to see them
successfully leave the hard and splash. It gives us remaining sailors
hope for our own future water life.

Neighbors

The boatyard is full of lost boats that have been beat up, run down,
and left behind. Many were victims of the hurricanes,but others have
just been abandoned. "Dragon Lady" must have been quite a boat in its
day, but now she just sits quietly.

We have a new name

We got the name on the boat yesterday. We are officially 'Amante'.

We have arrived!

Got to Fort Pierce on Friday afternoon, and moved on to the boat. Some progress has been made in transferring our lives from the car to the boat. Amazing how much stuff we managed to pack in the car for the trip down. But also amazing that this pile represents all our possessions.
Work moving ahead on the boat. Lots of little things to take care of before we splash and sail away. We have lots of company in the boat yard. Many people have been working on their boats for months. They face major problems; replacing masts, patching hulls, etc. We are fortunate that our projects seem minor in comparison. It's a beautiful boat.

Our trip south

The following pictures were taken during our trip south. We are currently in Atlanta, leaving tomorrow (Friday) for Florida. The pictures are posted in reverse order.
Vince and Maria

A view of the backyard at the 'new' house.

We next travelled to Atlanta to visit Maria's parents. Here they are in front of their 'old' house.

LEXIE!!!

We had a wonderful visit with Maria's sister Liz, her husband Nat and the amazing Lexie. Lexie is the star in satin.