.....SCUBA-MAN.....

Well, here I sit in the Miami airport, madder then a wet-rooster... we had to pay $ 15 for Jan's one checked bag and $ 25 for my one checked bay and we each still had our carry-on bag..... Only an AMERICAN company could do this AA (of course)...............

Well, back to my post.... I'm now SCUBA-man....I got my certificate to scuba dive.....

Here are some pics.... Me going in and me coming out of the Caribbean waters....  Fantastic dive over a sunken submarine and a coral reef and several other sunken ships and gazillions of fish......  Oh, by the way, I added an extra picture of my newest "tats".....  I'm a sailor now....

Daddy-O/Papa Doc

...who are these people ?????????

Well, who could imagine who these two happy people are?????

Could it be the two cruisers of the Freedom of the Seas............

Well, we're back in Miami, resting for our flight back to reality....

Family, obligations, Thanksgiving, oh yeah and RETIREMENT...

....jump starting the economy...

OK.......... So here we are on "Miami Beach" at the beach........  Today we depart on the Freedom of the Seas......  As we close the door on our "South Beach" suite, we notice the "daily rate approval" for the "room" we have sooooooo enjoyed this past 20 hours.....   It must be the almost, but not quite, "priceless" view from the 12" by "24" window in the bathroom of the alley way that so vastly inflates the value of this room.....  Fortunately, we got the fantastic cruise line discount and aren't paying anywhere near the "going" rate that the business conventioneers and race car fans and beach fans are paying.....  So to all our friends, we beseach you to put in some overtime and welcome the upcoming tax increases so that we "retired seniors" can continue to enjoy the standard of living to which we have become accustomed...  Now, on the bright side, Jan and I are as excited as two love bugs in Florida in May, of course that is before the "SPLAT" on the windshield....  Breakfast with mimosa served "in bed".....  And, that was after a late-night bonfire on the beach with hot dogs, chips, beer and hostess cup cakes, all thanks to the good wishes of a "racing team" that competes today in the NASCAR race at Homestead....  We met a couple of the drivers and crew chiefs and a good many NASCAR fans......  If it weren't for the alluring sirene's call to the sea, we could have had some pit passes to the race....  Oh well, when it rains it just simply floods with goodness...  Well, my stomach is telling me it's about time for my first cruise "BLT"....... so I'm off to the SeaFarers Cafe....

We'll try to keep you posted as to our comings and goings....  Oh, by the way, did I fail to mention that it was 82 degrees yesterday with clear blue skies....  It's a little cool this AM at 72 but it's expected to "warm up" to the mid-80s by departure time........  So aloha as they say "in the islands"......

Jim/Jan 

Are We There Yet?

Well, we made it on Delta to Miami...but had to "rise-and-shine" at 3:00 A.M. to "make" it!  Needless to say, a little napping on the plane, a little napping by the pool, and probably an early night too...before we are keyed and "in sync" with the festivities that we will face on the Freedom of the Seas tomorrow.  They will be at the  hotel (which just happens to be on the Atlantic and offered us a beach to walk, but lacking in cleanliness and the "white" beauty of Sandestin)...at 12:30...and we will be boarding the ship that apparently compares to three apt. buildings!  Wow!  Might have to "look up" at that one....well, everyone...keep working and doing what has to be done to keep our world chuggin' in our absence.  I cannot imagine we will even be checking out the paper..after all, this is a retirement cruise, and we are "retiring" from "almost" everything!  

ON THE HIGH SEAS...AGAIN

Well, we have had time to recup from travels and family fun...only to be washing up clothes and packing again....this time for St. Thomas and ports near.  The Caribbean is calling us...for ten days at least!  We head out Saturday at the crack of dawn...and come Sunday the Freedom of the Seas we will be calling "home."  Sailing, no...but sea-going, YES!  We are ready to eat to our hearts' content every hour of the 24-hour day, scuba dive, mystery dine, shop, walk, bike...and enjoy our time together.  May the waves cradle our eves; may the sun, fun and music fill our days!  Remember...keep paying into SS...we are dippin' pretty deep!

......florida.....

OK, so look up the word in the dictionary..... Jan and I were on the back deck of Jim n Nicks.... Jan with her Coors lite, spinach dip and BBQ'ed turkey and Jim with his Coors lite (yes, it seems as if I've taken this "retirement" thing to heart and have begun to "indulge" a bit every now and then) habanero hot buffalo wings and "pig in a potatoe" (I definitely do prefer the D. Quale spelling) doused with BBQ sauce....Of course, we were the only patrons present on the private back deck because of the slowness of the season.....  As quickly as Jan and I had completed our usual toast of "it's a beautiful day in Sandestin" and were about to partake of the first test taste of the wings..... WHOOSH  From a high, overhanging and well hidden branch of a neighboring tree dropped the grey and black body of a badger....  With little fanfare and even less ado, Billie (as we later came to affectionately call the wild beast from ahigh) struck a pacing pose....walking to and fro without his head ever moving from it's snaralous sneer....we sat transfixed, unable to set out a proper defense....and with the most curious calmness, Billie raised his massive body (estimated to be ATLEAST 35+ pounds by several witnesses) upon his two hind legs....forelegs with claws that appeared more sharply honed than that the deadliest of Jason's cutlery...claws that seemed never to stop quivering....black-hooded eyes that glowed yellow to orange to red and then back to yellow...with irises that were as dilated as the most crazed addict in need of a "pick me up"....a thick, heavy drool slobbering down the left side of a massively gaping wide jaw....a jaw which exposed  55+ finely chiseled teeth that glinted intermittently in the intense light of the full moon....some would say "it's only a badger" but at that very moment we knew that we were about to be attacked by "the beast from beyond"......  Frozen in terror, we could not move....  Faced by this unholy terror....threatened by this ferocious meat hungry beast we did the best we could with what we had at hand (no, the .44 magnum was still at home and no, the ceremonial samauri sword was still hanging in the den)....we dug down deep into our vast repetoire of actions....Jim quickly grabbed the next wraught iron chair and "faced down this demon" while Jan cheered me on from a somewhat safer distance away.... finally with the beast tamed, and without any exageration at all, it took ATLEAST THREE cheese biscuits from JnN's to calm this wild beast....  To say none the least, we moved our dinner indoors and proceeded to enjoy another wonderful retirement dinner.....  Well, until tomorrow when we discuss the ardious task of "taming Publix... Until lated folks.....

Jim/Jan

,,,,a few more sea notes...

                          .....a few more notes from the bay...

As previously stated we made good 10.3 knots speed (see GPS readout) with 30+ knot winds... My crew included (left to right) crew mates Stan and Erico, captain Eric.....  Of course the "good ship" Celestial took care of all our marine needs, seeing us to Norfolk without any problems.... So now we're on to our next adventure......Starting the Sandestin move-in...........

...it's the sailing life for me....

It was the best of times..............

It was the worst of times..............

The best of times because the "Chesapeake Adventure" was about to start....

The worst of times because this adventure would eventually come to an end......          

There was Celestial, the 44 foot Island Packet that would take us the 200+ nautical miles from Rock Hall, MD to Norfolk, VA......  Crewed by the reknown Captain Eric and First Mate Erico....

From Rock Hall across the "bay" to Nap (Annapolis to most landlubbers), then down to Solomons Island, then Fisherman Bay, and then past the US Naval Base in Norfolk to Little Creek and the final docking.....  But forget not that during the voyage we sailed "wing and wing" with max speed of 10.3 kph (documented by photo, I just for some reason could not download it, but I will for you doubting Tomases)..... The winds were Force 7, the seas 5+ feet and on the s/v Celestial sped as sound, solid and stable as Noah's ark....  The "Fearless Four," Eric, Erico, Papa Doc and Stan) remained steadfast at the helm....  And don't think that this was all that austere a trip.... Sample dinners, cooked onboard, while sailing consisted of roast beef, new popatoes, jellied cranberry sauce, green beans, and salad, or home made Portougese chicken fijitas, fresh tossed caesar salad, fresh baked bread and pudding, or home-made spagetti with specialty secret italian sauce, garlic/oil bread, greek baked/fried potatoes, and vege-salad.....  And don't forget the meals we had ashore at the "Naughty Gull" and "Sparky's Mermaide"....

From the first step aboard the magnificent 44' IPY, I knew that this trek was going to by far surpass my expectations.... Docking, undocking, anchoring, mooring, sailing a pre-determined course, sailing by dead recognition or by position, tacking, jibing, sailing wing & wing.......

WE DID IT ALL....  I'll add a few more pic for you to view....  So now I'm all excited about the 7 day sail in St. Thomas.....  Til the next post, maties.........