January 12, 2019 – After a month Christmas break back in New Haven (a full house with the kids and NJ cousins — except for Emma who was working the ski season in Japan) it was time to head South again for Emmanou’s annual repairs and maintenance. With Karin back in Texas to help her dad through medical issues, Todd Smith and Emerson (on a break from the US Mogul Ski Team to rehab his legs) hop aboard for the trip to North Palm Beach. First stop, anchorage off Cumberland Island, an old barrier island playground of the rich, now left to fallow with modest maintenance from parks services. Our visit coincided with the Trump partial government shutdown which afforded us free bikes (no one to collect rental fees) to explore the island. The sad ruins on the south end of the island suggest what must have been a spectacular compound and Gatsby-like lavish parties. No sightings of the wild horses that have taken over Cumberland Island but plenty of signs that they eat well.
Next leg, an overnight run to Cape Canaveral for a return visit to the Space Center (this time, the Trump shut down curtailed our bus tour of the launch pads for some reason). Then a day run to Ft. Pierce Harbortown Marina, where Eric Townsend introduced himself as a former captain of our boat (then known as Sabi). He is now running his own boat service business and convinced me to use him to restore Emmanou’s teak rails back to the original wood from under the cracking polyurethane shiny layer by coming down with his crew to work on the boat in North Palm Beach.
An inside run down to North Palm Beach, to Old Port Cove, which, together with Seminole Yard, would be Emmanou’s home for the next two and a half months while she was left under the care of Yacht Tech to work through a long list of work items before our planned April cruise to Cuba for the Havana Biennial Art Festival. Todd and Emerson headed back to Hilton Head and Thach headed back to New Haven to prepare for an extended ski tour with Karin.
Cumberland Island. Went there 40 years ago!
Original wood teak rails good idea We did the same on Wanderer. Costly but at the same time cost effective and we liked the weathered look when we were too busy to oil it.