Hi, Buckaroos...

Hello all,
I'm not sure if anyone is still out there, but if so; Greetings.

Much has happened in the past couple years since I have last written and there is a possibility that someone is interested in the Barco Sin Vela's whereabouts and activities.

Virgil Xenophon, is that you???

Every once in a while, I stop by to see if anything new has happened at Buck's old site, Exile in Portales. I miss that guy.

Blogs are no longer as popular as the  Book of Faces, Tweet and other such wastes of time. Right?

Yep.

I'm hoping to recontact a few of our old followers and at least let them know that the Barco Crew is still endeavoring to persevere AND living the lifestyle that confounds our detractors. Living well is the best revenge, according to that philosopher/wit Noel Coward, and he did know, indeed.

First off, in honor of 2017 the Barco Crew made a move to the South and set up a new homestead in the country. We traded suburban neighborhood living for rural, replaced no see-ums for biting yellow flies and switched sewage systems  for something called a septic tank. (I don't really know what that is but I do know that when you flush the head the product does not go far away for the County to deal with...)

Here is my new view;

View from living room

Wilbur!

View of left part of porch

Little citrus grove

Nu Gnu waiting to sail...

View from office

Wilbur (The Wildebeest) still commands a view of our living room, a room that has 166 years of having lived and will continue to be lived in, at least by us.

We own both sides of the little tree lined canal which currently has the "Nu Gnu" tied up and waiting to sail on the waters of the adjacent St Johns River. Across the way from our canal is Murphy Island, which is a Nature Preserve. The author and Naturalist William Bartram had described that island as "Dunn's Island",  in his book, "Travels..."

Any-place that has been described in books from 200+ years ago is A-OK with me, and please count US in when it comes to a forever home like this one!  One must endure, mustn't one???

We arrived and set up house keeping back in July. It was so amazing to actually find ourselves in this particular circumstance and it was a bit overwhelming at first. The first evening we sat and watched the beautiful sunset over the river on our wonderful antebellum porch. There were a few bug bites, I blew them off as the No-See-ums, or gnats.

Oh, noes...!

The next couple days I discovered that I was swelling and blistering on my legs and had no clue as to what was happening! I went to a medical clinic to learn that they had no idea, either!  They gave me some antibiotics to fight whatever it was that was ailing me and wished me well. The swelling went away and I was none the worse for the wear and the rest of the summer we settled further into the Country Life.

Edit; I recently learned in the last three weeks which bug I am allergic to; Yellow Flies. YIKES!!! They are very easy to avoid, don't go out an hour before and after sunset or sunrise during the May to June Yellow Fly season. That, and wear long pants/sleeves if you must be out and about.

Anyhoo, after our Labor Day bbq, we hunkered down for Hurricane Irma, which threatened to punish us all for getting a little too comfortable here in Florida. Our two marshes did a great job of absorbing the floodwaters and our homestead took no damage, excepting a few branches that were blown from some trees. The worst we endured from that storm was five days without electricity which meant five days without air-conditioning and internet. At least our water flowed slowly from our artesian well which provided for our plumbing and household needs and we had propane for what little cooking we  performed daily.

No big deal, we just move on and continue our regular mission of having a good time and staying well.

You might be asking, "What about your Barco, and all that fun boating stuff you used to do???"

Barco Sin Vela II endures and will be doing some long distance traveling in the very near future, I hope to be doing the Great Loop in the next twelve to twenty four months.

Who wants to be crew? Anyone...?

Until next time, (Which might be sooner than later!) You can find us here on the blog and physically at this place...

Barco Landing

P.S. We have wildlife here, too.

Person-Tees (formerly known as Manatees)