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| Sunrise at Sea -- an original photograph by Ann Brown |
Our jump outside from Palm Beach to Cumberland Island
Georgia is the longest trip we have taken in the ocean. We filled up with fuel,
left our marina about 10:00 AM and sailed into the open ocean. Most of the way up the
coast we stayed within sight of land – no more than 10 – 15 miles out – though
occasionally we did go out a little further. The weather was absolutely
beautiful. The waves were predicted to be about two feet and … drum roll,
please … they were. Once in a while we might have seen a three-footer but for
the most part they were exactly as forecast. The wind was a pleasant 10 knots
and was behind us, creating following seas. In short, we could not have asked
the mighty Atlantic Ocean for a better day to cruise.
The only downside to the trip was the need to stay up 30
hours straight. You know, when I was younger I used to do it all the time.
Sometimes I would pull an all-nighter prior to taking a test; sometimes I would
travel all night; and sometimes (in a previous life) I would take part in
military operations all night. When I did so, I was usually ready and rarin’ to
go the following day. Anymore? Not so much.
When traveling on the boat, one of us is always awake and while Ann is
certainly willing to take her turn, it seems I can’t really go to sleep while
we are underway. So, on my watch I am up all the time and on her watch I am most
of the time. It is true that I lay down while Ann is at the helm, and I may
doze a little, but sleep? Nope, not gonna happen.
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| Some of the wild horses at Cumberland Island |
Anyway, we made it all the way to Cumberland Island,
Georgia. There, we picked a place to anchor and spent the night. For those of
you who don’t know, Cumberland Island is the southernmost of Georgia’s barrier
islands, part of the national park system and is part of the National Seashore.
What does that mean? Anyone … anyone … Yes! They have a stamp for Ann’s
“Passport to your National parks.” So, of course, we had to lower the dinghy
and head to shore. They also have, as might be expected at a National Seashore,
a beautiful beach that is chock-full of seashells. They have big ones, small
ones and some in between. For those of us who are becoming “shellers” it is truly
a remarkable find. In addition, Cumberland Island has wild horses! I don’t know
exactly how many there are, but they seem to be all over the island – or at
least their dung is. Also, the Revolutionary War General Nathaniel Greene – who
was, according to some, second only to George Washington in military ability
among American Revolutionary War generals– used to own most of Cumberland
Island.
And finally, in one little known footnote to history,
"In 1818, an ill Gen. "Lighthorse"
Harry Lee, a Revolutionary War hero and old friend of Catherine
Greene (Nathaniel’s widow) was returning
from the West Indies when he asked to be taken to Cumberland Island. Catherine
Greene had a mansion there named Dungeness. After a month of illness, he died on
March 25 and was buried on the island. His son, Confederate General Robert E. Lee,
had a tombstone placed over the grave and visited his father's final resting
place several times. In 1913, at the request of the Virginia General Assembly, the
body of Harry Lee was reinterred at Lexington, Virginia, to lie beside his famous
son, but his gravestone was left on Cumberland Island."
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| Lighthorse Harry Lee's original gravesite on Cumberland Island |
Our house batteries are lead acid (which means you should
check the fluid level periodically) and are located in our cramped generator
room (which means you CANNOT check the fluid levels). The bottom line is that
the batteries went bad and would not hold a charge. So, we needed to stop at a
marina just outside Savannah to have the batteries replaced. To have the
batteries replaced with the kind I wanted would have taken several days, so we
decided to get some “cheapies” to get us through to Deltaville. Lord, I hope
they last.
We arrived in Savannah on Saturday and, since no one worked
on Sunday, we decided to take a taxi downtown and take a trolley tour of the city.
Savannah is the oldest city in
the state of Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733, the
city of Savannah became the British colonial
capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state
capital of Georgia. A strategic port city in the American Revolution and during the American Civil War, Savannah is today an
industrial center and an important Atlantic seaport. It has become a tourist
center because it has maintained a historic area consisting of 22 squares,
those that we saw were well maintained and very attractive. There are all sorts
of colonial era houses, the headquarters for the Paula Dean Empire (while Paula
Dean may have lost some corporate sponsors, she did not lose any support from
her fellow Savannah-ians), and the setting for the book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (I haven’t read the book,
but MAN, what a cool title).
In addition, we linked up with Bill and Jeanie from the
sailboat Nemo. We met them during our
first trip to the Abacos while we were both staying at the Jib Room in Marsh
Harbor. Ann and Jeanie have stayed in touch primarily via Facebook and the
blogs that both of us keep. Jeanie and I have been fellow sufferers as she
broke her ankle in several places at about the same time that I was trying to
recover from my Achilles problem. We ate dinner at a place called Tubbies that
wasn’t too bad. But mostly we enjoyed the company.Speaking of my foot … yes, you guessed it. While the doctors thought they took care of the infection last year, some of the darn commie germs apparently managed to hide from both the knife and the antibiotics. They have attacked again and I have an open wound on my Achilles. So, this summer is not going to be as pleasant as we had hoped, but I’ll get through it, I suppose.
ANN’S NOTES: I am BAAAAACK…sorry I missed the last posting
of the blog but I was swamped with my ‘to do’ list before traveling all night.
I had to make a dinner that could be reheated quickly plus get all the charts
in order. Also cleaning and laundry had to be done. I know it is semi-crazy to
clean before a long trip but I feel so much better knowing that everything is
clean and in place. By the way…we had meat loaf and mac and cheese…good meal to
eat while in the Atlantic. I am sure that Columbus had this meal all the time.
The cruise over night was really good, I do stay up with
Michael but usually I am in the salon reading or doing lat/long reading so we
can keep track of where we are on the paper chart. Michael said he would work
on trying to go to sleep but I doubt very much he will be able to pull that
off. The counter to staying up all day and night is to plan on staying put for
24 hours to rest and re-set our body clock.I have been busy doing all sorts of phone calls for Michael and his heel. In North Palm beach we had to get approval from our insurance for his MRI. The Northern region and the Southern region did not seem to understand that we live on a boat and that they had to talk to each other to get approval. Add the MRI office, the front desk, the manager and the head of billing and insurance and all that adds up to many, many, phone calls. Geez… I am glad I have the patience of Job.
We now need to make arrangements with the doctor at Walter Reed and his scheduler. So far so good..no date set but approval for surgery is done. All we have to do is get up to VA/MD. This little side trip to Savannah was not on the agenda …but it is what it is. I have always said that when you live on a boat…one never has plans…one has intentions.
I had a very nice Mother’s Day…we took the trolley tour and then met Bill and Jeanie for dinner. The conversation was excellent and just seeing them was a treat. I hope to see them again later this summer. I have been enjoying all the history there is in part of the South. It makes it fun to see how so many events are all connected to different people and the area they explored and lived in. Gotta love Goggle and Wikipedia.
I am also back in the land of dolphins and other ICW
wildlife…so here goes…
Tuesday 6 May
·
4 very large sea turtles in the Atlantic· 6 single dolphins
· Flying fish all over the place
Wednesday 7 May
· Large pod of dolphins 10 or more chasing fish in the shallows
· 7 single dolphins
· Cannon ball jellyfish all over the place
Thursday 8 May
·
Wild horses· Flock of 8 vultures, eating a dead fish…FYI…on land they hop sideways to get around???
· Sea shore birds
· Lizards
Lots of dead Cannon ball jellyfish washed up on the beach…just did not make that out going tide…darn…I bet they hate that when it happens…good thing they don’t have a brain
Friday 9 May
·
6 dolphins· 1 pod of 3 dolphins
· 1 pod of 5 dolphins
· 1 Turtle
Sat 10 May
·
Cows…YES…cows grazing on an island…they actually
have an island named Cattle Pen island…that was not the one we saw…just thought
you would like to know that tid-bit.· Marsh birds
· 5 single dolphins
· 4 pods of 2
· 1 pod of 4
· 1 pod of 5
· 1 pod of 6
· A very large Osprey nest on Red marker #60 with babies in the nest
· AND … Those nasty damn biting swamp flies…I thank Dave and Joan for the battery operated fly swatter. I am getting very skilled…I can now get two or three zapped at a time. I really dislike those flies.
That about wraps it up for me…we will keep you posted on
future events …mostly Michael surgery and boat upgrades and repairs.
Thanks for following us…
Traveling Soul…OUT
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