Tucked Away for awhile

We are in Sandpiper Marina.  The nicest and cheapest place we could find.  the people here are sooo overly friendly! well not overly! they are just right! everyone we have met has been super sweet and helpful letting us use their cars if we need.  but we don't, cuz my dad will be here tomorrow.

We cleaned the hull (that was me... I pouted and Ben let me cuz he wanted to clean the hull... why? would we fight for that job?  well I have methods to my madness... my back is sore and bending over to scrub the deck does not sound fun... plus you get to sit in the kayak and have a bit of fun balancing while you try to scrub the guck off the bootstripe. it was fun but don't tell Ben... I made sure it looked hard. ha ha)

He scrubbed the deck - thanks Ben and did many other things while I did stuff.  all together we cleaned out the head... (peee-you) that is never a fun job, cleaned the bilge, washed off all the salt anywhere on the outside, washed the floors on the inside also called the soul, and the cabinets, picked up stuff, washed anything we saw, cleaned the seats with a little dirt devil, I'm sure i'm missing something...

I'm tired and sore...

we ate mac and cheese with peas on the side for dinner... we played backgammon and we double the cube to 64 again this time I pulled it away, then Ben came back and is up 32 to 10.

I can't get my work checkbook to balance yet.  I bet I'll get it when I get home.

that's good enough for now...

see you all soon...

Amen
Pam

same o same o

Getting the hang of the ICW

One thing that is new for us too is anchoring in a “river” with a tide. Cuz in the middle of the night your boat switches sides.  If the river/canal was going south your boat will be facing north but in the middle of the night the river changes and now you are heading south… so does your anchor grab when it is turned 180 degrees?  Well it seems to. 

We set the anchor one way but then the boat moves.  This makes for an unhappy pam at night unless we set an anchor watch. When we were first doing this we set out watch at about 30 feet so we knew when the boat was ready to swing.  This made for a crazy Ben.  I say that cuz happy wife is happy life. (thanks Gary vikesland for that saying I use it all the time… well when I need to.) So he is the one that checks the anchor at night.  He can fall asleep at the drop of a hat and me… well if I get up… then I’m up for hours afterwards.  I have taken my shift at running outside just once.

Although now we are getting used to anchoring and also used to what to set the anchor at.  Oh wait add a few strong winds going the opposite of the current and you have interesting swinging boat.  What would you think is stronger a 1 knot current or a 15 knot winds?  Which direction wins?  The current most always.  Normally without currents we set the boat into wind and anchor and we stay there most of the night but rivers are a challenge cuz the current is stronger.

This morning we got up a little late 6:30am, a much needed half an hour. I motored for the first 5 hours while Ben made the coffee.  We motored through a big expanse of water but yet could still only stay in the channel.  I was moroting at high tide so it was a good motoring for me.  Ben is doing well … I have not felt any hit yet.

Tonight we will anchor in Fort Pierce inlet somewhere. I have gotten a lot of work stuff done this afternoon and a little blogging… im excited for movie and popcorn night tonight!!! That will be fun and yummy!

We plan to be at our destination tomorrow… then my dad will pick us up on Sunday and we will play with him for 2 days then it is home for the holidays.!!!

I missed out on a turkey dinner so Im sure we will have you all over for thanksgiving!

Today same old story… dolphins, birds of all kinds, motoring past big houses small houses retirement homes, marshes and more marshes except today it was a bit warmer but rainy and cloudy 48-50 degrees is colder than 44 in the sun! BUT tomorrow it’s suppose to be in the 60! Are we in florida yet???

pictures!!

National Geographic Here He Comes! Ben's photos are amazing!

ICW has it’s own beauty.  If we were on the outside sailing we would not see anything except water, a few birds, cargo ships, fishing vessels and a few small boats and possibly a dolphin or two.  The outside would have been too cold for me to enjoy… or so I think.  29 degrees and wind and wet is very cold – the wind chills were in the 15s, so I’m glad we just been motoring on down the ICW.  I have stooped to using hand warmers and they are worth their gold for my fingers! On my off break I put the warmers in my socks to warm my toes!

Today was a day of “warmer” weather, we woke up at  6am (that’s 5am your time just to let you all know)… it was 33 degrees and too cold to want to get out from under the very warm down sleeping bags for sure! 

I pulled up the anchor this time as I watched the sunrise.  Our first bridge we missed by a few minutes so we had to wait 20 minutes for the next one.  Oh well, we’ve been pretty good so far.  I’m getting the hang of bridges… although some bridge masters are super nice and flexible and some are not. Some will wave to you as you go by and some will not. Some will tell you to hurry along and some will not. Some wish you a nice day and some do not. The majority of bridge masters are nice. I could do that job!  I’d wave as they passed and yell out the window, “Have a nice day! Ya’all come back now ya hear!” no they don’t have the southern accent in Florida. That was my impression of Jed Clampet from Beverly Hillbillies…

(here is an out of sequence comment… right now Ben is making supper! I’ve made breakfast and lunch so it is his turn… although he would rather fast than make supper I know he is making it for me!)

Today we motored past beauty all around us and the most that shown was the birds!! Birds of every kind! So many pelicans of different colors! An eagle, osprey, egret, herons, seagulls, king fisher, just to name a few!  The pelicans are so novel to us… how many pelicans do we have in Minnesota? Ben has great footage of them flying. Today we took out the camera cuz our fingers were not so frozen – finally during the day it got up to 50! Warm enough for taking pictures.

We also saw a rocket being launched!  Exciting, right from cape Canaveral! The space center.  The rocket was called the falcon 9 and it was made by a private company SpaceX.  It was like someone was reflecting a mirror in the sky at first, then we could see more details as it raced passed.  The rocket jets were a big flame following the rocket.  Well  you can google it I’m sure… seeing it from our boat in the water was exciting but doesn’t make for a good blog.

We motored by places that looked like a jungle of trees lining the fairway with herd or murders of birds everywhere!

Now there are the dolphins that I almost touched! Ben got a picture.  Then we switched helmsmen and he got to try and touch one too but the camera had a dead battery so just imagine Ben reaching out to touch a dolphin too!  For a while I went to the bow and waved at them as they chattered and squeaked noises.  They would look up at me and I’d wave and they would do cute tricks like one at a time they would go ahead and jump up in the air… it truly was just like being at the zoo! I squealed too with excitement.  We helped each other be more happy for the day! Not that I was not happy mind you. It was just a day-brightener.

Oh here comes supper: clam chowder and brown bread from a can. I better go…. Chomp chomp chomp! I made oatmeal for breakfast and leftover spaghetti, sausage and cheese on crackers, carrots, grapes, clemintine and whatever else had just a few bits left… we ate.

WE did not go aground today! We had plenty of anchorages to pick from (that makes for a happy Pam! Cuz if you can’t stop at night what do you do? Sometimes your gps is correct and sometimes it is as much as 60 feet off, then you would really run aground!) Ben kept all the red markers to our starboard… I know it is hard to see them when the sun is always shining in ones face!

That’s all I hope you enjoy the pictures! I have !  wait till you see some of the movies with dolphins and bridges!

Blessed are we with the abundance all around us! Humbled….Pam

12-7-10 dolphins and sand bars

Today started out at 6am… brrr cold again… we happily had a tail wind or a favorable current most of the day.

I charted our course for the day the night before.  I had a route for 45 miles and then for 60 cuz there was nothing in between to anchor at. So we either stop early afternoon 2ish or we go till 5ish.  We got to the 45 miles at 1:30 plenty of time to continue on.

First let me say I did motor in the morning and take my due shift in the coldest part of the day while Ben made the coffee. Brrr I was glad to be on the inside the icw!

Ben is the designated motor cuz machines and man go together naturally… well for some guys and I think Ben is included in this stereotype.  I’ve  seen the way he throws the throttle into fast and reeves up the engine. I’ve seen how he likes to power us off the sand bars/shoals.

Now for some fun… I’m going to make Ben blog and I will type his recollection of the day’s events.

I am now Ben…. No Ben is Ben and I’m his secretary…

“That’s just silly… people will read this and think it is just silly…

…oh I’m being recorded… well the first time I got stuck today it totally was not my fault. The sailboat in front of us had his sail out and he was coming toward us or what looked like it was coming toward us … he was on the pink line on the chartplotter so I thought I would pass him port to port so as I moved to the starboard I realized it was getting shallower and I grounded and the bouy that was shining in the sun was RED and could not tell cuz of the sun… I thought it was green…  yeah… a mistake anyone would make oh by saying it was a mistake I guess that means it was my fault after all but oh well we got right off. No harm done… maybe a little less bottom paint.

But the second time we got stuck on a sand bar… I should have known better to have gone so far out of the channel or near the edge but I was moving over to allow a big motor trawler to pass and I still had the green bouy to my port.  But it was too late…

But it was fortunate to be stuck for a few hours cuz then we got to see all of the things that swim and fly by us… like pods and pods of dolphins leaping out the water, surfacing for breath, splashing around and making a fine ruckus fishing for their suppers… oh and storks and seagulls and all the other sea birds were also beautiful as they flew by us!

And the tide got us off the sand bar just fine and we are safe and snugg just fine all happy ready for spaghetti and bed… after we play family feud online.  That’s it.”

And there you have Ben’s story… finally…I’m glad I typed this up for him cuz my recollection might have been a bit different like he says about my blogs they are 80% right as my view goes.  Ha ha ha

Love  you all sleep well.

Pam n Ben

dec 6th Happy birthday David Evans!

Being away from friends it is hard to not see them on birthdays.  Know that my thoughts and happiness goes with you all day long and into the future! Much love

Our day started again at 6:00am. that has been the schedule. We get up before the sun... pull up anchor... start motoring by 6:30am... Ben is the new designated motor man through mud...

this morning we got up and I thought I could start motoring so he could make the coffee.  he makes better coffee.  so I pull out and the chartplotter says i'm in the middle of the channel the markers look like i'm on the edge but still I should get through...NOPE  grrrr stuck aground again! we got off quickly so far all our groundings and yes Ben grounds too he just thinks it more fun than i do.  we got off mostly cuz the tide was rising and we did not plough through we just lightly bumped into the shoal which are EVERYWHERE!

needless to say you know my thoughts about shoals and rivers.  all in all the day went great. picture this...

me at the wheel with tunes cranked loud and dancing in the cockpit to keep warm when all of a sudden I feel like I'm being watched... sure enough... a motor boat has snuck up behind me... he hails me and laughs as he says, "Im going to pass you by on your port - smile" as he passed I waved knowing he had been watching me dance for a while... oh well a day brightener I'm sure....

we were at day marker 735 we made it to 785... not bad we could have gone further if we can find anchorages! it is so hard.  the channel is just that a channel if you go a little outside of the channel you are in less than 5 feet... the night before we do a lot of homework...

check the bridge height and times they open... then time the trip taking into consideration the current... sometimes we travel 5 knots an hour if we keep our engine at 2000 RPMs that is a happy motor where we get 1/3 - 1/2 a gallon per hour... if we go 3000 RPMs we use a gallon per hour!!! eek!!! sometimes the water speed is 5knots but our gps speed is only 2.5knots per hour due to the current against us and the reverse is true sometimes we fly at 7.5 or more...!!! if you go one hour and the brdige is 5 nautical miles away 5 knots is perfect but if the current is on your nose then it will take you 2 hours!!!

Today during one of my shifts, I motored through St Augistine very beautiful city and a cute little bridge.  That was timed perfect we arrive at 1:30pm... it was pure luck due to the currents.  on the way to the bridge I was flying at 8.3 knots due to the current then once you hit an inlet from the ocean now you are going the opposite way the current is adn then I was going 2.5 just crawling!

WE had a place marked out on the map where we thought we could anchor. it said 7-12 feet.  so we ventured in and got stuck! it is so frustrating for me... does not seem to bother Ben... give him mud over seasickness.  So we went further but on the map there was absolutely no place to anchor for the next 15 miles and we would not make that before dark. so we went back to a place we thought might work and it did... or so we think... i'll let you kjnow tomorrow if we get grounded or we drift away during the night.  we will have the anchor watch on... i sleep better and Ben the first rate mate we will get up at 2:30am after the tide and current change to see which direction our boat will be and to make sure our anchor is still good with the new direction we will be facing.

after getting stuck this morning i decided that I'd rather make coffee and so I did.  it's not as good as Ben's of course, he is the coffee master!

tonight ended with wifi and work and soon to beat Ben in cribbage. last night I crushed him in rummy 500 but he came back with backgammon and won by one shake of the dice! we had the doubling cube up to 64 games so he took the night in style.

good night all.

dec 2-5th Highlight Dolphins!!!

First let me say... thanks werner for all of your comments. I will keep you updated on our trip.  thanks to all the others that make comments on my email.  I know most of you can't comment on this blogspot cuz it won't let you for some reason.  I am the same way with another blog I was reading and could not comment on it too.  anyway it is heart warming knowing that you all read about our travels.  this next blog might get technical about the winds and direction and sailing but hang in there cuz dolphins are in this longggg blog of 3 days worth.

Plans, what is that in sailing? (12-2-10 thru 12-5-10)

The weather talked about 10-15k winds and tonight gusting to 20k. ha ha there has not been a gust over 3k.  we are going along the coastline at a very nice motor I might add.  Not that I like to motor but the other option is to sit here and not that I wouldn’t mind sitting here if it was sunny and 70 but since the cold front is really cold on the water… I thought 42 was cold… tonight I will tell you how 28 is. As of now it is 43 and I am down below cuz I was getting cold and it is Ben’s turn to sail for a while or motor. 

It seems like we will motor to Savannah GA an  unexpected stop due to no wind and we are motoring that means we have to watch our consumption. The only thing with that is there is no gas gauge. No “out of fuel” warning not even a “warning fuel low”  on this boat it just stops. Stopping out here might not be so good unless we had wind and even if we did it would be difficult to sail into some of the ports since they are on a river.  Long story short we will tuck into Savannah and buy fuel there and then either ICW or atlantic depending on the weather.

Our fuel tanks are not square; they are an odd shape.  They are molded to fit in the back and since we have a boat like a big canoe – a double ender – it is in that shape. So the tank is smaller at the bottom then opens up bigger.  We measure the fuel by dipping in a long stick that has marks on it. We can see… oh we are half the way down in the tank but that does not mean half the way down cuz the tank is big at the top and small at the bottom… so is half on the stick mean 1/3 of a tank left or ¼ of a tank? Whos-ta-know?  This next time we fill up we are going to pour in 5 gallons than mark the stick then pour in 5 more etc… this should help us.

Just before I came down here Ben and I were eating oatmeal and he noticed some splashing!  Yes we had 4 DOLPHINS!!! playing in our wake at the bow of the boat!  I have been waiting my sailing career to see this! Finally! It was so cool and they stayed and played for about 20 minutes or more. I waved and yelled hi and hoot and hollered with total excitement… now santa does not have to bring me anything for Christmas this year cuz I have already got my Christmas present… dolphins… who could want more? Not me!

Those dolphins were so cute! Check seeing dolphins off on my bucket list of sailing. I have sailed with the whales and now with the dolphins.  This whole trip so far we have had dolphins grace our presence once a day or so. None so spectacular than dolphins jumping around the boat… swimming side by side… playing in the waves… playing next to the bow… they look at you… they look this way and that!  They are small yet musclular. They make cute noises. AND they smile like I am now and will for the rest of my days as I remember dolphins.

What’s on your bucket list? Whales, dolphins? My next sailing bucket list to see is fish jumping in the boat so I don’t have to go fishing… I hear they just jump in the cockpit.  I can’t wait!

It is 5:30pm, sun just set. I’m going to get shut eye since my shift will be freezing in 4 hours… Ben and I agreed that if the person on duty was cold they just have to tell the other one.  So I don’t know how long this will be… and I don’t know how long I will last when it is my turn but for now… I’m going to get some shut eye!

12-3-10

Well once night came so did the winds! So we changed our ideas and we decided to get as much out of the NW blow as possible.  We think we have 30 hours in our fuel tank to motor if needed.

The night was cold but not too cold.  Well I was cold but not freezing it was about 42 but this time it was not raining and the winds were about 15k. I thought as I shivered do I like to shiver and be cold better than this past summer where I was so hot and miserable??? Hummm I pondered that questions for a good part of the night. One has to think and perseverate about something while keeping oneself awake.  And after my long dialogue in my head… for the life of me I can’t tell you which is worse or what answer I came up with… if any.  They have their plus and minuses.

So we changed our course due to the winds were good and strong so we went on a nice beam which slowly had us going out to sea a bit which was fine since we would be in a direct line to Jacksonville our first goal. 

During the night what was supposed to stay NW for a few days started turning west. That was ok all the next day until late afternoon the winds started going more SW now we were being slowly pushed out to sea and no longer could we keep our heading to Jacksonville.  The winds started to pipe up to 22k.  We were about 25 miles out we pulled into wind more and more until now we were 35 miles out. Ok now this is not what we wanted but NOAA kept saying West winds… I wish they were out with us cuz they were SW winds.

Decision time… we tack and go a little backwards and get no where or we keep going further out to sea in hopes that NOAA will be right the winds will go back to w or NW…

The weather did not seem it was going to change. I was sailing almost into wind the winds got bigger and stronger.  Ben came on shift. Now we wanted to get back to shore that means west and the winds were west south west. The winds kept building to 25-28.  It was too windy so Ben, being the best first mate there is, he set out to reef.  I offered like I always do – half heartedly – I have done it.  He knew I really did not want to.  (my rain gear is super heavy on my body, it is cumbersome and hard to even step up with my bib overalls on. I have boots that are slippery. When I have my jacket on the collar comes up to my eyes and I can’t see really right or left without moving my head which is hard to do due to the stiffness of it all. It is hard to even pick my nose with all that clothing on.  Oh and guess how many layers I have underneath?  Just guess… count for yourself: underwear, think long underwear, silk long underwear, black stretch pants, jeans, flannel pants, bib overalls!! Yes 7 layers… imagine going pee!!! So Going and reefing was not first on my list…. Later I discussed it with Ben that next time I would reef but I would take off my foul weather gear and then I could move and be more responsively to the boats bucking and lurching.)

So anyway this time he went up… it is dark… all I see upfront is his head light glowing… my job is to keep the boat into the wind in such a way that the boom does not surprise him.  He did an excellent job! I have to say that is the scariest part of sailing is reefing and I don’t even reef 99% of the time.  Ben came back into the cockpit. It was hard to figure our sail configuration… too much sail with the jib and main. So we pulled in the jib.  Then we did not have enough sail. The winds were piping hot and we were only going a few knots. So ben set out to put up the small sail. Which again I half heartedly said I could.

It was done and the sail set was as best as we could get.  We were headed in the right direction and we made 1 mile in 4 hours! The other thing is now it was Ben’s shift and he had just gotten sea sick and lost his supper. Usually steering helps the side effect lesson. I had just spent 4 hours being cold and needed sometime.  So he half heartedly said he could sail for a while. 

I was now in the exhaustion sleeping mode.  The first day I can’t really sleep well… but by the second night I am ready for my shift to end so I could rest! I was physically exhausted, cold and tired.  I knew the sail set was the best we could do and it was just a matter of time or having the wind change to be more favorable.

I was cold and sleepily as I could be.  The 2 hours flew by even though I was aware of the jumps and changes of the boats response.  I came up and asked if Ben needed a break or should I take a normal 4 hour.  He was way ready to be done.  I felt refreshed. Ok a little groggy but refreshed by the quality of sleep.

Before we retreated… we listened to the weather NOAA finally they changed their minds… ok they really changed their minds.  Now there is a SW gale headed for us! (that means 25-35k winds or 30-40 miles per hour winds) we were trying to get to shore but still 35 miles out and still only moving 1 mile every 4 hours.  Welp there is nothing we can do but keep ondoing what we are doing.

Ben was too tired and sick and exhausted to stay up anymore.  I was glad to take over… I don’t mind a strong wind if the sails are right. I don’t mind big seas either – they are kinda fun. It was getting warmer with that wind coming and it was 48 degrees or so.

Each of us on our watches and together combed the coast for a place to enter.  There are rivers and outlet/inlets but most of the charts say, “Only pass if you have local knowledge”  what is that! Anyway there was another guy stuck out with us but he was way closer to shore. Ben and I had already decided we would be one more night outside and get in as day light permitted and as the winds would permit. We heard him on the radio at like 10am talking to “sea-tow”… I listened in. (brilliant!) He asked if anyone there had local knowledge of the passage way he was thinking about taking.  What a great idea! The guys from sea-tow are the guys that pull boats off of the shoals and rocks that run aground. I will use that knowledge when we need it.

Finally during the night the winds changed just a bit to NW to W to NW to W to S… we kept on.  The winds were just right to get us to shore – finally – ahead of the gale winds. 

Both Ben and I were happy to be tucked safe and sound on a dock in GA, st. simon island. We also just happened to be there on their xmas party night were everyone gets free food and drinks.  We were hungry and tired and ready for bed after a nice warm shower.

What a nice surprise. Now we are back in the ICW it is super low tide and I just got done running aground on my shift – give me strong winds and no where to go than a river at low tide!  (Ben disagrees – he would rather take his chances on a river at low tide and just bump into a sand bar and then get pulled off with the tide than to be out in the wild sea – sea sick and stuck in the same place. He also commented that if you get stuck on the sand here atleast you are not seasick and you feel  much happier)

Now to find an anchorage on a river and to send this out.

Oh to get in the Christmas mood we have bought egg nog and played xmas tunes while sailing. I miss Christmas cookies!!!

wednesday at port 12-1-10

Wednesday

We slept so well! I’ve been having the worst pains in my stomach area… well under my ribs… like stabbing pains when I lay down.  I’ll go to the dr when we get home… I have no clue except that it keeps me awake at night but last night I slept all the way through with out any pain!! Finally.

Anyway on to our day…

We got up late! Nice! Then ventured to the prayer meeting.  The pastor asked us if we speak in tongues.  Nope. But we can pray.  He didn’t seem to acknowledge our form of prayer the kind acceptable to God… or so that was my understanding of him? I could be wrong.  So this was the first time I experienced lots of loud voices sounding like morse code: ba ba la la mo ba la la over and over again… it is hard to concentrate when loud shouts and chanting is all around you walking around… but I settled into the noise as Ben and I silently prayed our form of prayers and meditated the way we know.

Afterwards we all shared a meal together. It was a difference experience one I have to think upon… I still connected with the God, Creator that I know. It’s just that I was the odd ball.  Which I can deal with.  I wonder what they thought of our quite ways. God comes to people in whispers as well as from thunder.

Back to nautical thoughts:

Weather is going to be COLD for us.  There is a north wind the kind we would like to have for  a few day coming!  Here is the next weather window to go on the outside again.  Tomorrow we will leave here in the sunrise and make it to little river inlet… we asked the locals if a 6 foot draft can make it through and if it was clearly marked.  He positively said that is the best inlet to go out on.  Ah Ha! Local knowledge --- Check. J

Thursday winds changing from SW to W to NW – 15-20 gust to 25, seas 3-5

Friday N winds 10 - 15

Saturday NW going to SW  10 – 15k (we don’t want SW but it should only be for 12 hours)

Sun N winds 10 -15 seas 2-3

Looks like the window to make 300 miles outside? The only kicker… the temp will be 26-45 degress.  Brrr remember the picture of me on my face book? That was 42 degrees – raining – dark and I was cold.  I guess I’ll use more hand warmers this time.

Today is funny watching Ben bulk up food for the trip.  Since he gets sick and mostly does not eat for 2 days while we are out in the seas he is a bottomless pit today devouring everything in site and does not get full.  He is preparing for more days at sea. We all prepare a little differently.

ICW day 2... 11-30-10

Yesterday’s boring events:

This time we set out with knowledge of how to navigate through the ICW.  First of all our all precious charts that cost a lot of money… worthless except to tell you where you are… there are no anchoring notations… no water guesses as to the depth (The charts just say see note C for depths: Shoals can arise at unpredictable times, we recommend you do not enter, only go through if you have local knowledge of the passages. What are you supposed to do with that. Some places are 16 feet deep why not put that down?)

The chart plotter has a path in white marked out for us to follow… all well and good but still no anchor places, no depths off the beaten track, and here’s the kicker… the white path is supposed to be the best path to follow because we update our chartplotter with the newest information… so what do you really follow a gps signal or do you follow the green and red markers?  Sometimes the red marker is not even close to the path marked on the chartplotter sometimes the green marker is in the middle of the path, sometimes it seems are gps is 30 feet to the east of what we sight on the shore… all confusing!  In two days we have seen 2 boats in the mud off of the channel and one boat we heard her come on channel 16 (the distress channel) and say she was inside the green marker and still she ran aground.  The person responding on the VFH said something like yup we have shoals that just happen…

All of this talk does not make for a calm ride down the ICW… given all of that… I did have a sweet ride due to the fact we had our course planned to the best of our ability, we tried to guess the currents, we tried to time the bridges and it was s beautiful day to boot.

We ended up at the place we set out to end at. Holden Beach Marina. We are on the gas dock just inside the channel.  The forecast for Wednesday was Thunderstorms and 20-30 Knot winds and even tornados watches were in effect, needless to say I sided on the side of safety to stay one more day and wait out the storms… I don’t mind rain but thunder and tornado watches… well I say no more…

Once we arrived at the dock Ben and I went exploring in the dark as usual.  We love our explore time at each port and this was no different.  We went walking till we came across a grocery store and could not help but get a few comfort food items namely ice cream.  As we sat under the eves out of the pouring rain we ate our ice cream and talked with a cashier on her break time.

The rain kept pouring so with our groceries in our hands we walked back (about 1 mile) on the way back we ended up walking by a sign “Jesus is a Live” service 7pm Tuesdays.  Well it just happened to be 6:50pm on Tuesday. Sooo we stopped…

Picture this… I have not showered for 6 days… better yet I have not brushed my hair for two days… why brush it when I just keep it in braids… we are wearing our heavy rain gear jacket… we are soaked in the legs… I have on my rubber boots… I have my ski headband on my head so as to not show too much greasey hair but I know that in the back of my head is a snarly mess. I was fine if we sat in the back row so no one could see us.  I have more appreciation for those that come to places not dressed in the normal attire.

As we sat in the back we realized that we were in for a fiery service complete with speaking in tongues before the service even started the pastor was in the back room preparing for his sermon by speaking in tongues.

The room was a mix of all kinds and we didn’t quite fit in… or at least that was my feeling yet I was there to praise God so it can’t be wrong since the sign said Jesus is a live.

We sang songs at a high spirited level way over the top for conservative Lutherans but not over the top for my spiritual insides.  I like clapping and dancing and praising the Lord.

At the end the pastor picked us out to come forward so he could pray for us… oh boy… I was very self conscience of how I looked but I had to let that go cuz I am who I am and I look how I look. While he was praying… I was listening to his words and he said some quite insightful things about Ben and I that were right on… I had to think the prayer was from God to us and not just from this guy.  I tryied to put aside all of my worriness of how I looked and my assumptions of what people thought and I concentrated hard on his words… his words were true to my heart…

Last summer I was reading a book on how do you know if God is talking to you or not?  He stated that God will talk to you through many people to confirm what God ahs already told you and that is an indication that God is speaking to you… You know when people say, “God told me this…” I wonder did God really tell you this or did you tell you that? The guy also said don’t tell others what God told you until 3 other people have told you what God has told you then you can be pretty sure it is from God.  God speaks your language and He will keep speaking to you until you hear it.

So I really listened to the pastor prayer.  Then he invited all of us to a prayer meeting on Wednesday at noon.

We ended our night battening down the hatches waiting for a big storm. And zzzzzzzz to bed.