Month: November 2012

Radeen, Bob, Hayden in Cocoa Village 2012

From Cocoa Village, we continued south 54 miles to the wonderful town of Vero Beach, FL where boaters often times get stuck, hence the nickname Velcro Beach. We plan to spent 3 days here doing normal boater services and then press on to Miami ASAP. We loved Miami so much last year. that we really want to spend as much time as we can there so we can learn the area. For now, we will enjoy Vero…

Here are some random photos of this section….

Radeen has now taken our BEST elusive dolphin photo These guys are so hard to photograph

“Dough BOY” back on the bread making task…we ran out …so, make your own bread!

OMG, it is Aphrodite the 1937, 74′ Commuter Yacht built for Long Island commutes to Wall Street, Check it out here http://www.brooklinboatyard.com/aphrodite.html We have seen this yacht in Watch Hill RI for many summers

I love to photograph pelicans, they are so interesting

Pelican paint job on the bridge fender boards 🙂

Standing watch over the Manatee sign

Here comes VERO BEACH, slogan is…. The Tropics Begin Here

Vero Beach ICW home

Now, for some fun visits and boat services in Vero Beach. Already we have seen many fellow Island Packet Yacht buddies, and we look forward to meeting more. Vero Beach is cruiser convenient with a free bus to stores, malls, and restaurants.  Let’s not get stuck here….

Daytona Speedway as we walked across the track!

Beach Street Daytona near Halifax Marina

Imagine the infield of the Dayton International Speedway FILLED with show cars, cars for sale, and car parts and gear, then you can imagine the largest car show in the world! 5,000+ cars and each one more beautiful than the next, this is the TurkeyRun.com auto show here at Daytona. From our anchored boat, we took the dinghy into the West Marine “temporary” docks and then walked 1.5 miles to the bus depot where we bought an all day pass for $3 and rode the bus to the Speedway, 5 miles out International Speedway Boulevard. Walking across the Daytona speedway race trace was exciting, let alone the show itself. Then, we entered the infield and were presented with row after row after row of the most beautifully restored cars in the world.

From the photos below, everyone should be able to guess what car I had in high school and college, as this particular year and model is still our favorite car. I tried to photograph a variety but I seemed to keep my camera focused on my eternal favorite. See if you can tell what that model is.

After the show, we were treated to a wonderful impromptu gathering of boating friends who connected via Facebook and this blog and text messages. We met at the Blue Grotto at Halifax Harbor Marina to share stories and drinks. Our long time Chesapeake friends and two time IP owners, Karen and Steve, IP32 Betelguese, were here on vacation. We were delighted to meet new friends Tammy, IP38 Sailbatical, and her Tayana friends, Penny and Stan.

Tomorrow we will move south, most likely making Titusville where we will hope to see our first manatees of the season.

Here are my best auto show photos….no captions….just beautiful cars
 

Broadway Bridge (Local Name) Carlton Black Bridge, Daytona Beach, FL

We are slowly getting back to cruising speed and moving south, EXCEPT, we have no schedule! So, when we bump into an event like “The Largest Car Show in the World,” we just have to divert and take it in.

We enjoyed a wonderful cruisers’ Thanksgiving at Marineland hosted by Chris, Cara and Chloe, the creators of the Marineland Marina, which opened in August 2011. Chris and Cara are really working hard to offer the boating community a top notch marina at an interesting stop on the waterway. We suggest all boaters stop here, visit with them, and enjoy all they have to offer. Floating docks, great facilities and fantastic positive people!

Now, we are anchored off Daytona Beach, using the dinghy dock at Halifax Harbor Marina. This gives access to Beach Street and the wonderful town center with fantastic restaurants,  pizza shops, coffee shops and artistic stores. Palm trees line the wide sidewalks which have many benches and interesting landscaped islands. We will stay here another day, get a $3 all day-pass, ride the bus 4 miles out to the Speedway and take in the TurkeyRun.com event. This should be interesting, plus we get to walk the infield at Daytona Speedway….very fun…

Here are some fun photos of this section…

Beautiful Sunset at anchor, Fort George, FL

Extra Crew in the AM….not needed!

Bald Eagle on R36, north of the Town of Marineland, FL

If you can’t build a home…..BUY a TUGBOAT….cool

The NEW ICW Homes north of Daytona…. When is Enough, enough?

The traditional ICW homes north of Daytona, FL….very nice

NOPE….buy the traditional, bulldoze it down then build this monster

www.TurkeyRun.com car show! 4,000+ show cars! Daytona International Speedway

  So….tomorrow should be really interesting, viewing all the classic cars and walking around the infield of the Speedway. Daytona Beach, Fl….a cool place to stop.

Brianna and Colton, Bride and Groom

After our Phoenix visit, we spent 2 days with more family in Atlanta, Georgia on our return trip to the boat. These visits were a great distraction from the boating life, and it was really wonderful to spend time with people that really know you and love you. After returning to the boat, it was difficult to get back up to speed and into the cruising mode, not to mention the 25-30 knot gale that was blowing offshore for a few days. But after re-provisioning the boat and clearing off all the bird dirt and city dust, Island Spirit was ready to go, and to continue our trip to the Bahamas.

Here are a few photos of the 375 photos taken!

Tammy, Radeen and Taelor

Bridesmaids: Rachel, Brianna, Eden, Taelor and  Erin

Groomsmen:  Zach, Colton, Kevin, Evan, Mike

Father Mark and Son Colton

Tammy and Radeen

Taelor, Shane and Krista

Brianna, Rhonda and Colton

Radeen in the garden where the ceremony was held.

Brother and Sister: Mark and Rhonda

Rose Marie and Krista Marie

Brianna reading her vows to Colton

Krista, Rhonda and Mike

Radeen and Tammy

Hayden and Radeen

Tenth Anniversary Edition IPphotos.com IPYOA.com 2013 Calendar

We have released our Tenth Anniversary edition 2013 Sailing CALENDAR. This calendar is sold to support our Island Packet web sites at IPYOA.com and IPphotos.com. The Calendar profits are used to pay for the two servers storing and serving our 12,000 Island Packet photos at IPphotos.com and the new dedicated community web server running IPYOA.com. These three web servers are serving tens of thousands of web pages each month to the Island Packet Community. We appreciate your support and encourage you to purchase our calendar here. Thank you!

Here are the photos and pages of this Tenth Edition Calendar

PS:
If you are interested in Island Packet Yachts, we also encourage you to JOIN our Island Packet Yacht Owners’ Association. This web site is not only for IP owners, but also for Island Packet Dealers, Brokers, and Friends all interested in sharing the “JOY of Island Packet Yachts.”