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UPDATE#13
07/01
thru 07/31/08
Howdy
Everybody, The
adventures of 2008 from 1/1/08 through 6/30/08 have been published on the
website. We continue with this
latest edition. UPDATE
2008 #13 07/01/08 through
07/31/08. At
last update, AMARSE was peaceful and secure in her berth at Brunswick Landing
Marina in Georgia. We had just returned to Georgia from our land trip to
Missouri. 07/01/08 TUESDAY
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA HAPPY
CANADA DAY TO ALL OF OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS NORTH OF THE BORDER.
AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, MY MUM WAS CANADIAN BORN AND RAISED. Our wonderful friends, Sue and Paul Graham,
arrived in their Great Harbor 37, ODYSSEY.
We have eagerly awaited their arrival and have missed them so much since
our last time together in Boat Harbour, Marsh Harbour, Abacos, Bahamas.
Our Commodore, Robert Wilson, had chauffer
duty. I sat up front with him;
Paul, Sue, and Judy sat in the back seat; Mrs. Commodore, Carolyn, volunteered
to sit in the aft compartment of the Jeep Cherokee.
Now, that is service with a smile.
Of course, the decision was unanimous, we all voted to go to Barbara
Jean’s Restaurant on St. Simon’s Island.
As always, the food was delicious and plentiful.
07/03/08 THURSDAY
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA HAPPY BIRTHDAY
to ROBERT WILSON!!!! Carolyn Wilson organized a surprise party
for her husband, Robert. A large
bunch of us gathered at the dock house of #13.
Carolyn had arranged for a feast of grilled shrimp, grilled chicken, and
seared steak. Carolyn always hand
makes her especially designed greeting cards and places her loving touch on
everything she does. It is easy to
see that the Commodore is enjoying his special day.
We all enjoyed raising a glass to the man
who puts so much into making life wonderful for so many of us.
Happy Birthday, buddy!
07/04/08 FRIDAY
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA HAPPY
BIRTHDAY to the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to DEAN
ORDIWAY (Judy’s brother). Today is the day we celebrate the
independence of this great nation. The
national holiday has long been the time when friends gather to barbeque and
picnic together. George carefully
tended the smoker containing eight huge pieces of Boston Butt roasts. Since early, early this morning, the smoky goodness was
easing its way into the tender hunks of pork.
Another grill gently cooked these succulent
strips of salmon to a mouth-watering goodness.
The skipper of MISTLETOE brought the savory fillets and skillfully
wielded the spatula.
By mid-afternoon, the marina guests arrived
to the holiday event hosted by the marina staff.
Each boater brought their favorite contribution to the long serving
table. Sherry and George made sure
everyone had plenty to eat. Somebody
brought an awesome platter of marinated sweet red peppers with garlic pieces.
I loved them!
The old city hall is a stately
edifice located in the heart of historic Brunswick.
The walking parade was scheduled to pass by the gorgeous, brick and stone
structure.
In fulfillment of our sense of civic and
national pride, we decided to join the parade event.
Perhaps, just perhaps, this might have been one of the smallest parades
we’ve ever seen. It consisted
solely of one police car, about eight little red wagons, three horses and
riders, and perhaps a couple of dozen walkers.
I don’t have an explanation for the very few spectators along the
route.
The participants, although few in numbers,
paraded proudly and patriotically to Mary Ross Park along the Brunswick
waterfront.
Could any holiday be complete without a
game of “hop-scotch”? I think
NOT! Do you remember how the game
is played?
The end of our dock #5 is the perfect place
to watch the fireworks. We had a
clear view of every burst occurring very close by.
07/05/08 thru 07/09/08
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA Much of our time these days is consumed
with planning and preparations for our upcoming trip to Peru.
This trip will be totally planned by us and there is much to do.
We are planning a full month in that South American country and will
travel extensively throughout the area. 07/10/08 THURSDAY
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA
On July 10th, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources
conducted a full-scale inspection of the marina property.
They stayed the whole day. Paul
and Sue went to visit Paul and Connie Murgo in Melbourne, Florida for a few
days. Judy and I managed to fit in
an evening at the Ritz Theatre. The
historic theatre hosts a series of Summer Classic films during the season.
Tonight’s classic was “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” 07/12/08 SATURDAY
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA Most of this day was totally occupied with
the repair and reconditioning of the “head”, or toilet, in the aft
stateroom. The old unit had a leak
in the shaft seal and was operating poorly.
I found that the joker valve was damaged and the sanitation hoses were
very encrusted with a solid buildup of salt residue.
It is rather shocking since the hoses were changed out just a year ago in
May of 2007. I replaced the entire
pump assembly, disassembled and cleaned all the hose lines, scraped and painted
the motor unit and floor panels, and cleaned and secured the vented loop.
After all the work, it was still not working correctly.
Troubleshooting led to the “intake ball valve”.
It was clogged with weeds. I
had to clean and re-clean it out at least a half dozen times.
The good news is that it works OK now.
I am a tired puppy right now though. 07/13/08 SUNDAY
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA Our resident diver, Roger, came over to
harvest the massive growth from the bottom of AMARSE.
We definitely were harboring an entire ecosystem of plants and critters
on the under-hull and around the props. Clearing
the extensive mass of weeds required more than a full tank of air.
He found one shaft zinc in need of immediate replacement on the 1-3/4
inch shaft. A spare CAMP X-8 was
attached securely with Allen hex screws. The
evening drew us to St. Simon’s Island for the Golden Isles Arts and Historical
Association program of “Jazz in the Park” at the lighthouse grounds.
We always look forward to these evenings
when folks gather with their lawn chairs and picnic meals.
The scenic setting is lovely and the people watching lends an air of
enjoyment to the musical program.
The Rob Dentry Trio consisted of a saxophone, bass guitar, and drums.
Rob, now hailing from Chicago, is a local boy made good.
Remembering his roots, he tries to make an annual appearance for the
hometown crowd. Although quite
enjoyable, Judy and I get a bit lost with the musical style when it gets too
esoteric. We definitely prefer the
traditional Jazz styling to an improvisational and progressive jazz arrangement.
07/14/08 MONDAY
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA Paul and Sue returned from their road trip
to Paul and Connie Murgo’s in Melbourne, FL today.
When we drove up to the marina in our car, it was raining “Cats ‘n
Dogs”. Now, how’s this for a
kind and considerate friend? Paul
scurried out to our car, dressed in his rain gear, and brought us a couple of
umbrellas so we would not get soaked. That’s
just the kind of great folks that they are.
It’s no wonder that we love them! 07/20/08 SUNDAY
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA The chore list included the repair of the
hatch access door located in the floor of the aft cabin stateroom. With a series of 10-24 x 2 ½ “ stainless machine screws,
nested in finish washers and secured with fender washers and ny-lock nuts, made
for a neat and sturdy fix. Paul
and Sue agreed to join up for dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse.
Judy chose her favorite with the Baby Back Ribs.
A chopped steak with sautéed mushrooms filled my plate.
This is what friends look like.
07/24/08 THURSDAY
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA About 3pm, Paul and Sue called announcing
that their scooter had just quit running. We
were off to help them in any way we could.
It was very, very hot and humid. Paul
is an excellent mechanic and troubleshooter.
It was just too hot to make much progress. We had been invited to CHABLIS for
cocktails. Leaving the scooter in a
parking lot, we went back to the marina to relax and cool down. I wasn’t feeling very well, but Judy, Paul, Sue, and
Pauline and Arthur from FREEDOM enjoyed the invite very much. About
7:45pm, we took Paul and Sue back to the scooter.
I thought they were going to do more troubleshooting; Oh, no!
They promptly began to push that stubborn, two-wheeled beast back toward
the marina. I had measured the
miles on the odometer that added up to 4.3 miles.
The outside temperature was still registering 90 degrees.
At 9:25pm, they called to inform us that they had succeeded in their
quest. Wow, Wow, is all I could
say. Where did they muster all that
energy and stamina. I know that I
could not have done it. Congratz!,
I guess. 07/25/08 FRIDAY
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA Paul and I spent the morning driving around
looking for parts for the scooter. After
rounding up suitable substitutes, Paul set to his magic and soon had the scooter
purring like a kitten. 07/26/08 SATURDAY
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA Just for her special buddy, Judy opened the
AMARSE beauty salon. Girls will be
girls and, soon, they looked better than a million bucks.
07/27/08 SUNDAY
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA Most of the day was consumed with the
preparation of Update #12 for the AMARSE website. Tonight’s
concert at the St. Simon’s Island lighthouse commenced a bit after the crowds
had gathered to enjoy their picnic style dinner on the lawn.
Paul enjoyed a cold brew along with his
gourmet sandwich. Judy and Sue like
to nibble on their favorite fried chicken breasts from Publix Markets.
“Jazz in the Park” featured the jazzy
styling of Ms. Jonnie Eason. We
enjoyed the evening and the concert very much.
I wonder if it is distracting to the
performers when the loud, blasting horn signals from these auto-carrier ships
interrupt the band music.
07/28/08 MONDAY
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA With another day of work and input, Update
#12 was published to the website and available for our readers. Although
quite warm and humid, the day was clear and lovely.
The Brunswick Landing Marina was pretty and peaceful.
Just a short way from the marina, the Port
Authority of Brunswick was a bustle of activity with the exchange of cargo
aboard the STAR GRINDANGER out of Bergen. A
connecting rail line will shuttle much of the cargo to and from the warehouse.
In the adjacent area, Mary Ross Waterfront
Park is being adorned with some special artwork.
A group has received permission to build this unusual exhibit.
Using empty beer bottles that have been collected from the marsh lands,
the group is recycling the glass containers into a this display to emphasize the
numbers of haphazardly discarded bottles cluttering up the public lands.
Nested in colored concrete, the display is an interesting expose to the
ecologically sensitive surroundings.
At 7pm, we attended an interesting lecture
about DNA research on Loggerhead Sea Turtles.
I had no idea that research occurred at these levels of sophistication.
Even though most of it was a bit technical and surged beyond the ordinary
layman’s expertise, we came away with a new level of understanding about these
magnificent creatures of the sea. 07/29/08 thru 07/31/08
BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA, BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA The final days of the month were, in the
main, fully occupied with planning, and even more planning, for our upcoming
trip to Peru. It seems like I’m
woefully behind in the plan, however, ready or not, “here we come”.
The bags are packed, the outline of the trip is ready, what is done is
done, and what’s not is not. We did
manage to sneak in a movie at the GTC11. The
feature was BATMAN: DARK KNIGHT. The
boat has been readied for our absence. Extra
dock lines have been strategically attached, engines and transmissions have been
exercised, thru hulls have been closed, electrical circuits have been isolated,
and everything that we could think of was made ready. The
bags are in the car and we are as ready as we can be to commence our South
American Adventure to Peru. Tomorrow
morning, August 1st, we head out to Hollywood-Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
to spend a few days with my daughter and son-in-law, Sharyn and Jeff Cassidy.
After the weekend, we leave on August 5th for a month in Peru.
We are excited about this trip and believe that we will see a lot of
wonderful things. In the succeeding
updates, we will recap the experiences and the trip.
As they say in Espanol, Bien Viaje (good trip) and Hasta Luego (until
later).
WE LUV Y’ALL!!!!
This concludes this edition of the AMARSE Update logs.
We hope you will join us again soon for more of our activities, including
our exciting Peruvian adventures, in the month of August and beyond. POST
SCRIPT: We sincerely hope that you will
review the previous years of compilations to give context to the current
editions. Please let us know if you have any special suggestions and
thoughts. REMEMBER:
The website is now fully active and you can visit it at any time.
You can review any of the 2006, 2007, or the upcoming 2008 logs and learn
more about the crew and our plans. Enjoy. ATTENTION: SPECIAL NOTE:
You may contact us via email anytime.
We will have internet where ever we find WiFi
service.
Our cell phones have been turned back ON.
Judy has AT&T/CINGULAR service.
Fred has VERIZON service. Email
us if you would like our phone numbers.
"AMARSE".
is pronounced "AM-ARE-SAY". Our website is:
www.amarse.net . Thanks for
allowing us to share our life and adventures with you. Lotsa Luv, Fred Reed
and Judy Law AMARSE MT40
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Fred H. Reed |
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