10:00 p.m:  just as we were preparing for bed, there was a sharp series of official knocks on the hull.

“Florida Fish and Wildlife here, needing to ask about your Queen Conch, Sea Fans, Brain Coral and assortment of whelks with maggots here on the dock.”

And so a 30-minute interrogation started, the first five minutes a bit tense, much less so as we told our story of the last month combing down the ICW, through Jekyll and Cumberland Islands, over to the Bahamas, to Bermuda and bringing everything back here.

“Nothing from Florida waters, Sirs.” (One uniformed F&W Officer, “Big Papa” from the Animal Planet Series, one other uniformed officer and two plain-clothed detectives.)  They were ready to haul us away, confiscate the boat along with our shells. (not at all kidding.)

Then Kev introduced them to our on-board art studio, and showed my sea glass bracelet just completed this afternoon.

“People pay money for broken bottle glass fished out of the water?”.  When I started to show our assemblage of bucketed treasures they recoiled (some maggots still in shells).  We all had a good laugh … and a photo to commemorate our learning experience.

liz: please note purple glass jar on the dock to the right of the officer!!!!! purple glass knob and fairfax spirit to the rescue!!!!

(needless to say, I’m cleaning the shells in the morning … I’ll admit, a task a bit overdue.)

While we were in Bermuda last week, I was asked to donate a piece of my jewelry for Bermuda’s MasterWorks’ 25th Anniversary Gala next Saturday … and so here it is in the making, working out in the cockpit, in our on-board studio!

… w/a drill press on board, i drill each piece as needed …

harkening back to the style of my h.stern days:  bermuda purple sea glass, twentynine palms desert purple glass, brasilian amethyst (pure, faceted and rutilated), capetown seed pearls …   the final product below, ready to deliver tomorrow to Bermuda, for next Saturday’s gala:

this is our focus for 2012:  art, living afloat.  and of course, always our family.

everyone concurs: we need to practice our art, living (safely) afloat!

and so we are.  safety first.  today, kev has installed our new radio system which will keep us constantly in touch throughout the 1000 miles offshore between fort lauderdale and st. george’s.  (we can send e-mails w/creations way from way out in blue water!)

in the meantime … watercolor and photography for kev  … and fabricating jewelry for me, both to show in our gallery in bermuda this spring and summer.  

64 boxes of gemstones/vintage beads/silver and gold, 45 frames, 82 vials of seed beads, 2 drill presses and 2 sewing machines (one industrial, one fashion), jewelry-making tools, 32 art books, 28 handmade canvasses,  supplies, hand-pressed paper, 18 canning jars of sea glass (2 with starfish and sand dollars exclusively), 3 bags of watercolors and oils, 1 bag of precious metal clay and gemstones, a kiln, 2 easels …

our floating art studio is now deeply and safely stowed way below.  next stop: april 1st, moving it all in to our bermuda studio and gallery!

(got to hand it to island packet for storage …)

i wasn’t thinking heightened visibility way out in the ocean.

… a trysail (also known as a “spencer”) is a small triangular or square fore-and-aft rigged shortened survival sail which is hoisted in place of a larger sail when sailors are facing severe, gale force conditions (over 40 knots of wind).

when kev ordered this sail just before christmas as part of our bermuda-bound preparations, I thought it a nice, safe addition to our sail inventory … until it arrived today.  Fluorescent orange (so that we can be seen under the most adverse conditions out in the open ocean), quite small (“we’ll be able to sail at hull speed with just this!”) and about the size of a pair (maybe two) of my underpants, this sail commanded my immediate attention and respect.

we’re getting ready for our big off-shore sails … and pray that we won’t need to use any of this gear!!!! next up: repacking our six-man life raft, installing our single-sideband radio, purchasing a series drogue anchor that we can drag off the stern to slow us down under even more severe weather conditions out at sea while the trysail is up.  (this is getting serious.)

hhhhhmmmmmm … priority #1: safety at sea!  priority #2: safety at sea!  priority #3: see priorities #s 1 & 2!!!

for those who say we’re living the dream, we say sailing isn’t just lovely days at anchor.  as kev says, “it gets worse before it gets worser.”

in order to take off in 45 days for bermuda, we’ve got to deep stow, rewire, batten down, shore up, think out and plan for the worst.

we started in earnest today.  everything (EVERYTHING) is in process of being taken apart, rethunk and secured.

the blue heron is our constant companion wherever we go … from bethlehem, ct to rock hall, md to washington d.c., deltaville, va, charleston, sc … the bahamas and even bermuda.  now we’ve found him as a next-door neighbor (as in 3′ away) in fort lauderdale.

extremely loud and incredibly close … when he heard kev’s shutter click, off he went just after sunset, until our next meet-up.

outrunning an incoming storm in nomini bay early last summer en route back to our anchorage just off the potomac river, on the virginia side …

trash collection, fort lauderdale style!!!!   as blues singer Taj Mahal put it, “stick out your can, ‘caus here come deh garbage man” …

a veritable crew of 2+ paddle the river daily, picking up garbage and providing a lovely service (on many levels!) for the river community …

location, location, location!!!  with my jewelry studio on board, i’m still able to meet w/brides, clients, customers, whomever to design new creations together …

no question but that living on the water has inspired me beyond my wildest dreams …

here is a recent sea glass bracelet, made with quantico, va beach glass, pearls, white quartz, sterling and found objets d’art …

seed pearls and seed beads “make” the piece, I think!