JeffAndJanice.com

Friday, June 25, 2004

My pictures of the BEER Cruise were deplorable. We saw such great sights, but in an attempt to save a buck (and protect my digital camera from wet conditions), I bought a really cheap camera, and now have crap for pictures. Fortunately, there were lots of people there, and lots of cameras, so I waited for them to post their best pics, and stole them. So sue me.

We caught up with the group at Pirate's Cove Marina/Cantina in Alabama, near Perdido. It's one of those places that's not usually overrun by tourists, as it's a little rough around the edges. Great place with a gritty "boat trash" clientele. We didn't raise the standards much that week.

There were some great boats there. This classic is owned by Gene and Mary. Gene says he was there when this boat was popped out of the mold in 1961. He told them that he wanted to buy it if they ever decided to sell. He had to wait nearly 40 years, but it's his now.

Gene and Mary brought the family along.

J.T. couldn't wait 40 years, so he built his own weekender. The Weekender is mis-named, in my opinion. A very small boat, I doubt I could spend a weekend in, but he and his son spent a few nights like pros.

Damien has a less-traditional boat, but one that's dripping with sailing gear. He lives on the ebay sailing pages, and would certainly sink his little boat under the weight of the equipment he's adding, but today he announced that he has found and bought a bigger boat... on ebay!

Here's Shane's boat. As much as Shane loves to add gadgets to his Neptune 24, he can't compete with Damien. Shane was there for the party, and he had a great time.

Here's an aerial view of the group at Lulu Buffet's restaurant. The arrow points to our boat.

Here's Rick, who was not part of our group. He's a local, who built this motorless junk-rigged beauty himself. He invited us to his home to see his woodworking shop, and to eat a few blueberries right off the bush.

And finally, my own humble little ship. Laura Griffith took this picture. When she saw our laundry hanging out to dry, she said "Jeff and Janice have finally become true cruisers". She should know. She's been doing this for years.

And here I am at the helm of my humble craft. Noemi took this picture. She spent the night on our boat, and sailed with us over the course of two of our days there.

Here are Charlie and Laura. We spent most of the week with them. They're nice folks, who have been sailing for years. We could have learned a lot from them, if we'd have more time.

Laura is an artist, and Charlie is a boat builder and woodworker. We can't wait to visit with them again.

Janice was dying to go to the "Real Beach", which she defines as the Gulf side... unprotected waters, with real surf. Personally, I found the protected waters more interesting. We found more seashells there, and saw more sea life.

Speaking of sea life. There was plenty.

Here's the sunrise at Mosquito Cove. We nearly had the place to ourselves. Charlie and Laura were there, and Gene and Mary, along with a couple of big, wasteful motor yachts.

The nights were starry, and the days were sunny. It as a great trip that we hope to repeat next year.

another hasty insight by Jeff on 6/25/2004

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

I just got the pictures back from my vacation, and they didn’t come out very well, so I won’t inflict them on you. It was a great trip. Janice and I were basically camping out in our boat for a full week. No air conditioning, no TV, radio or even newspapers.

We were attending the annual BEER Cruise (Backwater Environmental Escape Rendezvous), which is a gathering of Trailer Sailors. The Trailer Sailors are a group of sailboat owners who frequent the trailersailor.com forum. Over the years, we’ve gotten to know each other well, and have gotten together at many different venues, though I have only attended the ones along the Gulf Coast.

This year, we decided to stay after the event ended, and sail the protected waters around Perdido for a few days. I won’t go into great detail here, but it was really a great trip. We met a lot of great people, saw dozens of dolphins, caught some sun, stirred up phosphorescent plankton at night, walked the beaches, made coffee on our Coleman stove, and learned a little more about sailing, from some people who are real pros.

We were more self sufficient than I expected. We didn’t spend a single night in a marina, and our battery power lasted all week, through careful conservation. That’s not to say we didn’t use facilities. We were often close enough to a marina that we could go there for a hot shower, a bag of ice, and, of course, to empty the porta potty. Constipation would have been welcome on this little boat.

We even rode out a couple of storms at anchor. Our little boat was rock solid during the storms, as we were lucky enough to be in very protected waters.

Since I have no idea who (if anyone) reads this page, I won’t go into detail about boat stuff. Don’t want to bore you. Just picture the quiet coves, sandy beaches, dolphins, jellyfish, and Janice in a bikini.

It was a slice of heaven.

another hasty insight by Jeff on 6/22/2004

Friday, June 25, 2004

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

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