Keeping Busy at Virginia Beach

Cavalier is a very active club with lots of amenities so we are keeping busy. Everyone is very friendly here but it is different. We have to dress better for one thing. No t-shirts and messy jeans around here.

The Cavalier restaurants serve amazing food. We only ate in the restaurants twice. The Caesar salad with crab cake was to die for!

One time we ate lunch on the upper patio when we saw the kitchen help dumping oyster shells in the bay at the bottom of the green. This is totally legal. The oyster shells will grow new oysters eventually. The helpers seem to enjoy this task!

We attended Yappy Hour so I could get my dog fix. For two hours club members brought their dogs and had drinks on the lawn. This year they separated the big dogs from the little dogs because those little dogs can get so aggressive.

Lots of golden retrievers and a few labs ran and caught balls that occasionally dropped into the water. It was funny to see the dogs come to a screetching halt at the water’s edge.

Those pesky little dogs still managed to cause trouble because they wouldn’t stay on their own side. A small schnauzer looking dog lit into a lab, really going at it while the owners held on to their drinks and said, “no poky, no”. Our new friend Andrew leaped over tables to separate the dogs before the little kids saw any bloodshed!

Kermit launched me then had
to figure out how to launch himself.

See Marissa, we can do this!

We took out the kayaks to explore around the little inlets. This is such an unbelievably beautiful place.

This one is marked for destruction.
So pretty and right on a corner. 

There are a bunch of McMansion, many homes that look like Avondale in Canton, and a few lovely smaller homes including this beautiful mid-century home that is evidently marked for demolition to make way for another McMansion. Oh well…

The staff got dressed up all day on Halloween!

We saw three weddings, a bat mitzvah and a Halloween party. Always something going on here – it is a very active club! 

'Mon back...

One of the weddings was on our dock, on a boat docked just ahead of us, Magic; the Rear Commodore of the yacht club no less. They asked us to move our boats so the bride and groom could take pictures in the sunset at our end of the dock.

Just BilEve turning to back in
to their new dock space

Not as easy as it looks,
is it smart guy!

Actually that was the least of the preparation. They also had a power pedestal moved because it would interfere with the wedding that was held on the boat and dock behind the boat. No problem, we smiled and leaped into action! Kermit and Joe the dockmaster moved Just BilEve into a slip.

We moved from here at the
end of the long dock...

Kermit even got a lesson from Dockmaster Joe on how to lassoe the post. Maybe now that he sees how hard it is he will be less likely to yell at me when it takes me a try or two!

To right in the middle of the dock action!!
The incoming Commodore is the boat right in front of us.
You can see the back of the Lazzarra to the right.

Good Karma moved into the long floating dock right across from our new friend Andrew, the Captain of Angela Dawn, a 75’ Lazzarra. We are right in the thick of the dock action now as opposed to quietly off to the side.

The wedding on our dock - it was very pretty

The bride and groom - this is why
we had to move. I think it was
worth it!

This is the other wedding that took place at the same time!

Last time we were here in 2013 we were pretty much alone because Mike and Judy and Jay and Sandy were off doing their own things. It was natural. This time we met some really interesting people in addition to the two couples we already know. We are on nice speaking terms with the incoming Commodore who has the most beautiful golden retriever. He is docked immediately ahead of us and across from the Rear Commodore where the wedding was held.

Then there is Andrew the captain of Angela Dawn . He is opening up a whole new understanding of the yachting world, a place we will never go but enjoy having a peak. He and his little dog Sassy live on the boat full time. The owner has not been here at all while we are here; evidently they are out of town. Andrew’s wife was exiled to Australia after an unfortunate interaction with a customs agent returning to the US from the Bahamas six months ago. They are trying everything they can to arrange her return but he misses his wife very much. 

Andrew is completely responsible for everything that happens on the boat. He has a “crew car” and an expense account for his and the boat’s everyday expenses. But he doesn't have much to do. He is stuck in the middle. He can't really hang out with the deck hands or the members. We are an interesting alternative because as transients we are also stuck in the middle! Nice guy. We can't travel with him to Florida though because he travels much faster than we do. 

Lately we grill out almost every night with Andrew. The grills are located at what they call the “gazebo”, a covered building with isinglass sides and doors, carpeted that is usually used for an additional exercise place. There is also a big tv. We hang out there in the evening. Evidently no one else does. Boat owners pass by, smile and say hello but evidently no one has ever used these beautiful gas grills. We pull the grill close to the gazebo and pull a table and some chairs and just hang out chatting while we grill then eat. It is fun!

M/V Angela Dawn

Andrew’s favorite tv show is “Below Deck”, a reality series on Bravo portraying life among the crew of a luxury charter yacht. We watch it all the time in the gazebo. Evidently it is close to what actually happens on those charter yachts. Andrew has done it all! It is fascinating to listen to his stories. We got a tour of the ship he captains, Angela Dawn. There are four cabins above deck, crew quarters below deck in the garage where the toys are kept and my favorite, a full kitchen with a big home sized fridge and an OVEN! Beautiful.

Last night we had dinner on Angela Dawn. Andrew made a delicious pot roast. We brought corn bread from Trader Joes. After dinner the conversation turned to Andrew's recent physical exam. He was concerned about his blood pressure so out came the little blood pressure machine because of course every boat has a little blood pressure machine. Andrew and I clocked in at 150 / 80 or so. Kermit clocked in at a healthy 115 / 60. We make our own fun out here!

Andrew’s boss wants to (according to Andrew he needs to) change out the four Volvo Penta diesel engines with pod drives. So we tagged along when Andrew visited Volvo Penta HQ this week to meet the engineer who will supervise the upgrade. They don’t build engines here but this is American headquarters with executives, marketing, finance, HR, engineering and customer support. And we got a tour!

The best part was a tour of seeing the training facility. We saw the “glass helm” that connects the pod drives with the steering wheel, Garmin gps and autopilot and the joy stick that replaces the steering wheel. It was very cool!

The worst part was seeing the carcasses of Angela Dawn’s old engines from the last time the engines were replaced five years ago. I guess replacing engines happens a lot on these fancy yachts. It was so sad. The old engines have no value at all except to provide used parts.

This is on the Boardwalk.
See Neptune behind us? 

This is Santa's big. God knows
what he is doing in VAB but we saw
him at another store on another day. Wierd.

We did laundry several times and we go to the gym almost every day. It is a wonderful gym, almost always empty when we go. We avoid the busier times early in the morning and just before dinner. The equipment is unparalleled. We won’t see a gym like this for the rest of the trip.

I couldn't resist a plug

We rode our bikes to the beach one beautiful afternoon.

Now we have to remember to pull my bike off Just BilEve before we leave!

Katherine went back to Ohio for a week to give four speeches, meet some clients and do some networking. She will do that each month just to keep her hand in but most of her work is on the phone and via Internet.

Best booth at the conference was
Patriot Paws - training service dogs
for vets - we got to hug dogs - heaven!!

She also went to Fort Worth to give a speech – one day in and out the next day. That was fun! The speech went great with a full house and lots of business cards to follow up on. The best booth was Patriot Paws where we got to play with puppies - how nice is that!!

Next up: We will share details about the trip south which begins in a few days.