Our first night out was so cold that I saw our young crew sitting at the helm wearing most of the clothes they'd brought with them huddled under our heavy quilt. In the morning after our first dolphin sighting, we arrived at Atlantic City and dropped anchor, planning to spend only a day to replace engine hoses; we left five days later.

First, the hoses were the wrong size, then the weekend intervened so we didn't get the parts until the 15th. In the meantime we moved into a marina for water and power as the batteries were low because we couldn't run the engines very long with no water circulating in them.

May 16 - we're heading for Cape Hatteras on the outside when the waves increased uncomfortably so we went inside at Norfolk and continued down the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). The next day we spent the morning stuck on a sand bar. Once off, we continued south through a canal where we shared a lock with a tug boat pulling a large barge.

May 18 was our first trouble-free day, and we were finally warm. The troubles returned the next day when we hit a tree stump and were pulled off almost immediately by a large power boat. Worse, one of our crew noticed the starboard hull laying low in the water. Seems the automatic float on the bilge pump had failed and there was water in the engine room. We pumped the water out, replace the float, and anchored for the night.

We arrived in Beaufort, North Carolina on May 20 for provisioning and fuel. Also tried without success to find a vet for our dog, Star, who's paw was continuing to hurt him. We're also trying to fix a problem with the fuel not switching properly between tanks.

To be continued.

People often wonder what it takes to actually get a boat and go sailing. Everyone's story is different: some people plan for years before even starting to look for a boat; then there's us. I met Charlie in June 1999. In August 2000 I signed the closing papers on a 43' sailing catamaran which had spent 7 years in charter, and we sailed her from Ft. Lauderdale to Bridgeport CT, staying out of sight of land for 9 days straight except for a 2 hour stop for fuel in Beaufort, NC. This was probably the most uneventful voyage we have ever undertaken on S/V "Blue Star".

We had a teaching captain and his mate, wonderful people from South Africa, with us for the trip, a good idea since I'd never been on a sailboat and Charlie had owned a small sailboat for 2 years 30 years ago, which he'd sailed on Lake Ontario. I was also amazed to learn that I was actually very unhappy when we stopped in Beaufort; I'd rather have stayed out on the ocean. That trip was the only education we, mainly Charlie, received on how to operate and maintain a boat that is the equivalent of a small city in that it has separate electrical, sewage, plumbing and fuel lines in addition to the 2 engines and 2 sails.

We had the boat hauled over the winter with the idea of working on her on weekends, but it snowed so much that winter that all we ended up doing was removing the snow every weekend. Of course the boat was built for warmer latitudes so many lines froze and broke, keeping us busy especially as the weather warmed up.

On April 30, 2001 Charlie had sold his business, I had sold my house, and we moved aboard Blue Star, now back in the water, along with a German Shepherd and 5 cats. The next day we picked up our new crew, another couple from South Africa but very young - only in their 20's, and moved them aboard as well. We completed the last repair jobs and had our official Bon Voyage party on May 4. May 8 Star, the German Shepherd, fell off the boat while we were running errands. He was rescued but had hurt one ankle. An omen? Quite possibly. Nevertheless we set sail from Cedar Marina in Bridgeport CT the next day, May 9.

To be continued.

And now for the downside of living on a boat. All day long we've had about 30 knot winds, first from the south then switching to easterly and finally all the way around to northerly, stirring up the water unbelievably. The turbulent water makes one look like a drunk when walking on the boat.

Charlie, he of the sensitive stomach, vanished to the mall and movies for the afternoon. I stayed aboard and watched one of my Netflix rentals. For those of you who might wonder why we spent a Sunday apart, please consider that we spend, on average, almost the entire 24 hours of every day together, so an afternoon apart is a necessity for me to retain my sanity.

I also need to fill our water tanks but that will have to wait until the winds die down tomorrow. even keep our cat, Sunny (short for Sunshine) that I rescued from the desert around the marina in Curacao a year and a half ago, inside for the day so I won't have to worry about the possibility of her falling off the boat.

She did fall off the boat the last time she tried to leap from the boat to the dock, effectively ending her wanderlust. Fortunately, she swam around to the aft steps where I fished her out. She was fine, if a bit traumatized. We used the occasion as an opportunity to give her a much-needed flea bath so the episode had a relatively happy ending.

From the high seas of the St. Johns River: stay safe, stay aware.

Oops! Just noticed that time's gotten away from me again. Despite my good intentions I haven't posted since April 1. Hope to do better next time. That said, lots has happened since then.

My life partner Charlie and I went to Minneapolis for Easter weekend and when we returned, I had an incredible number of order waiting to be processed. Most of them were a result of the press release I did last month - an excellent marketing tool that I'll be using again.

We've had a lot of action in the marina lately as the Mirages return for hurricane season. Mirages are powerboats that are built in Gainesville and trucked over to a boatyard near here for assembly. Their roomy design is proving popular with coastal cruisers. To me they seem a bit top heavy, and they're not for crossing oceans. Plus I'm partial to sail power. We had met some of these people in December before the group took off for a shakedown cruise around Florida, and they seem really happy with their boats.

The floating docks are finished and, according to dockmaster Dave, every one is filled although some of the boats aren't here yet. A number of smaller monohulls have moved from the large pier where we are to the floating docks for easier access to their boats.

As much fun as it is to live on a boat, sometimes you need to get off of it and that's what we did today when we stopped by the Clay County Fair. Unbelieveably, this fair was even better than the State Fair. In addition to the usual midway, rides and agricultural exhibits, there was a whole section with a number of historic buildings populated with people dressed in periodic costumes plying their various trades and crafts.

We visited all parts of the fair, eating and drinking as we went. I even went off my diet with 3 pieces of fudge, complete with nuts. Definitely worth it. Unfortunately, due to Charlie's instant ability to get motion sick, we didn't sample any rides but they seemed to be producing lots of screams.

Now you're up to date with life in Green Cove Springs. I plan future posts on our cruising experiences where my Cruising Package would have come in handy as well as an update on my Annual Insurance Hunt.

Stay safe. Stay aware.

I guess April Fool's Day is as good a time as any to get back into blogging. I just finished adding this blog to my website at http://pamcompersonalsecurity.com which should make it easier for me to post.

As you know I live on a boat with my long-time partner Charlie and our cat, Sunny, a rescue case from Curacao. I'll be writing about boater security, cruising experiences, life in this marina, and any other newsworthy items.

An example of life in this marina: just yesterday there was a small regatta that was centered around the marina next door to this one. Lots of boats, lots of flags and lots of friendly gatherings. I never tire of watching boats come and go. It's amazing how much traffic there is considering we're 20 miles inland on the St. Johns River in Green Cove Springs, Florida. More tomorrow.

Stay safe.