Palm Beach to Islamorada

So far, we have spent two weeks in the sunshine of North Palm Beach, Florida. Now, I know that this was one of the coldest winters in recent memory for some of you, and I know that the snow was deep, the slush messy and the sleet, stinging. But we finally found warmth in southern Florida. However, southern Florida wasn’t our goal. We are headed to Key West – another couple of hundred miles south. This entry briefly discusses or stay at North Palm, then gets a little more interesting as we talk about our trip south through Miami and the Keys.

The reason we stopped in Palm Beach in the first place was to get two things fixed (again), our heads and our air conditioners. In both cases, we found people in Palm Beach who are excellent repair-people for the systems we have. Beard Marine does good work on our air conditioners and our water maker. (I should note that “Shiver-Me-Timbers,” a company in the Chesapeake is also very good on marine air conditioning.) Marine Plumbing Services is the other company and is recommended by Raritan (the manufacturer of our heads) as the best in the area – and they are.

We have four air conditioners: one for salon (living room), one for the aft cabin (our bedroom), one for the galley and one for the two guest cabins. We replaced the aft cabin air conditioner this summer while we were in the Chesapeake. We discovered on the way down the ICW that our salon and our galley air conditioners weren’t working properly when we tried to use the heat to warm up the boat. (A marine air conditioner operates in a fashion similar to a heat pump in that it both cools and heats.) We decided to have the salon unit replaced in Palm Springs and wait until the summer to replace the galley one. Anyway, Beard ordered a new unit and replaced it while we were in the marina at North Palm.

Our heads were a different story. The forward head is old and needs to be replaced. The aft head works like it should. The middle head works at about 75% efficiency if we add enough salt (it is a long story for which you will have to go back to the blog entry where I explained the chemistry behind our Raritan MSD I (Marine Sanitation Device) heads). I have said for a long time that something is wrong with the electrodes in the system of the middle head, but none of our various plumbers have believed me. They insisted   that the inside of our system just needed to be cleaned. I have cleaned it several times with specially-made solvent that costs nearly $100 per gallon! Well, when one of the technicians tested our head he realized that we needed more than a cleaning, that something was wrong with the electrodes!!!!! Once again, my diagnostic skills shine through – even though my repair abilities remain near zero.

Repairs and sunshine are only part of the story. We also went to one of our favorite boat stores, Boat Owners Warehouse, and spent a ton of money; we connected with our friends Sharon and Andy aboard Finally Fun (oh, by the way, if anyone is interested in buying a 49’ DeFever Cockpit Motor Yacht, Finally Fun is for sale); I got in several 15-milish bike rides, some to Singer Island and some to Juno Beach; we met Jerry and Susan aboard their boat Ho Hum and we met friends of ours from our last visit to the Bahamas – Kathy and Martin. All in all, we like Palm Beach and are returning on our way back north.

I do have to tell one more story. While in North Palm, we decided it was, once again, time to change oil. Now, most of you know that, for us, changing oil isn’t a simple task. Each of our engines carries five gallons of oil and the only way we currently have to take it out of the engine is to suck it out of the dip-stick tube one gallon at a time. Yes, we have a tool built for the purpose, but it is still a long and messy process. Well, after we had sucked the oil out of one engine, we were ready to change the oil filter. I tried to take it off with my hands, but that didn’t work. So, I got out my strap wrench – which always works – but it still wouldn’t come off. Then the darn strap wrench broke. Hmmm. That means we had a problem. The last time the oil was changed, I had it done by the Boatyard-whose-name-will-not-be-mentioned. Apparently they had not put on the filters finger tight – as everyone knows they should have – and instead used some sort of wrench to put them on. Well, after breaking the strap wrench, I went out to find another – on my bicycle, of course. None at West Marine. None at Harbor Freight (a tool company). So I went back to the boat until I figured there was only one way I was going to get the filter off. I drilled a hole in the damn thing. Actually, since the larger drill bit wouldn’t punch through, I had to drill three, increasingly larger holes. Then I put in my biggest and strongest screwdriver into the hole and by putting my considerable weight behind the screwdriver handle, I felt it budge. Then it budged some more. Eventually, I managed to get the filter off. Yes, I was covered with oil. Yes, I was cursing the*&^%  technician who must have used some sort of wrench to tighten the filter. But I had achieved victory! I had beaten the filter!!!

After that, we were on our way south once again.



The Beach at Hollywood, FL

We decided to spend our first night in Fort Lauderdale, kind of a boater’s Mecca. This is where many of the boat system manufacturers have their headquarters, so I thought maybe we could stay there for a couple of days and go to some of the boat stores. To get there, we traveled outside, in the Atlantic Ocean, so we could miss the fourteen bridges at which we would have had to stop had we used the ICW. We reentered the Waterway at what is called Port Everglades, the port at Fort Lauderdale, where we were immediately met by a tanker traveling out of the port. We decided to let this enormous vessel have most of the channel while we only took a portion on the north side. Everything worked out all right.

Although we wanted to stay in Lauderdale proper, we couldn’t find a decent marina in the city, so we looked a little further south and found one in Hollywood, Florida. When we arrived, the weather was very nice. The next day, however, it rained like the dickens – and it rained nearly all day long – so we didn’t get to do anything we had planned in or near Fort Lauderdale. The following day, the day we had intended to leave, the wind picked up and we decided to stay in place for the day. To understand exactly why we decided not to depart, you have to understand something about this particular marina.

Though the fairways (the space between two lines of boats) were a little narrow, we made it in without any problems. But when we got in and were tied up, we started looking around. In addition to the fairly narrow fairways, the finger piers were VERY short (20’?) so, unless we backed into the slip, we would literally not have been able to get off the boat. Moreover, the piers were made of concrete and the concrete did not have adequate protection around it. I guess no one told the builders that when fiberglass and concrete run into one another, it doesn’t end well for the fiberglass. If that wasn’t enough, any boat over 40 feet could not tie up to the forward pilings properly and would stick into the fairway. In short, this marina was designed for boats 40’ and less in length, but now was docking boats 50 feet plus – including us!



Another picture of the beach
at Hollywood, FL

I described the marina in detail so you can understand why we decided to stay two additional days. The wind was blowing steadily at 20 MPH and was gusting to 25. We had a couple of extra days built into our schedule, so we decided that rather than face some nasty seas and an even nastier marina, we would stay another day. The next day (day number two), it was still blowing. I wanted to leave, I even took in the water hose, but in the end, I didn’t want the wind to take hold of the boat and run me into some of the others. I know, I know, it sounds like I was a bit of a chicken, and I was. But there is a saying that goes something like this: “A good captain can get out of any scrapes he gets into. A great captain doesn’t get into any scrapes.” In the marina case, I like to believe I was behaving like a great captain. Of course, an even greater captain wouldn’t have been in that marina in the first place.

I was a good thing we decided to stay because our friends John and Kat were in the area on their RV. They came over to visit and we all had a great time. Though day number two was windy, it was also sunny, so we decided to take advantage of the weather and head out to the beach. It was a three mile walk, but we made it without any problems. It wasn’t like the beaches of the Bahamas, but it was a beach and there were lots of Floridians enjoying the surf and taking advantage of the sun. We strolled on the beach for a bit, then turned around and started our three mile trek back to the boat.

The next morning the wind had died down and off we went. The wait had been worth it, as the wind was only about 10 MPH and we maneuvered out of the marina without a problem.

The Urban Canyon that is the ICW between Lauderdale and Miami

Traveling the ICW from Fort Lauderdale to Miami is an experience. When you traverse the waterway in parts of the Carolinas, for example, you feel as if you are in virgin countryside as you don’t see anyone for miles and miles. Or that you are in truly rural America as you cruise through thousands of acres of abandon cotton and rice fields. South Florida is exactly the opposite. There are places where you feel as if you are in an urban canyon with huge apartment buildings and skyscrapers on either side of the waterway. In other places you cruise down the ICW with McMansions on either side. It is particularly fun to see, among these enormous houses, a small one-story pink house that certainly predates the mansions, and must be owned by someone who held out against what were doubtless pricey offers for their property. Cool!

On the way south from Miami, we had intended to travel to a nice little anchorage on Biscay Bay. On the way down, however, we heard that we would be crossing wakes with our friends Tom and Cristina, aboard their boat Tadhana. As we looked at the charts we realized that if we traveled a bit further we could make it to Tarpon basin, where they planned to anchor. So, what the hell. … We met them there and had a great chat. Tom has spent much of his life managing boatyards and he had some great advice for me as we discussed painting Traveling Soul, which by the way, ain’t gonna happen (at an estimate of $61,000).

The Miami skyline

After Tarpon Bay we decided to anchor at Islamorada, near the location of the semi-famous Lorelei Restaurant. Anchoring was easy, deploying the dinghy was a piece of cake, but starting the outboard was not. I won’t go into the details, but suffice to say that the darn thing would not start. We re-hoisted the dinghy and by the time we did, the heavens opened up. I mean it rained so hard that we could not see the other boats in the anchorage.  Maybe it was a blessing that we couldn’t get it started, otherwise we might have been caught in the rain.

That night it started blowing. By 0100 it was windy enough for me to move from the bed to the pilothouse so I could make sure the anchor didn’t drag. Everything worked as it was supposed to; Big Bertha held, the boat didn’t move, the anchor alarms all did what they were supposed to do and all was right with the world.

The blips are other boats in the
anchorage -- as seen from the radar



You can see the path the boat
followed during the night

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we were off to Marathon, another cruiser’s Mecca. But for that story, you’ll have to stay tuned.

ANN’S NOTES:  We have had a busy time on the boat…Michael has explained most of our activities …however I do get to fill in just a little in this blog.

While in Palm Beach, as I was walking down the dock I noticed the name of a boat that I knew. The boat’s name is August Sun, she has teal colored sail covers, she flies a US flag, a Texas flag and an Australian flag…there are not many boats that have that many flags in that order…SO…to me that meant that Kathy and Martin were in the same marina !!!  We met this wonderful couple the first time in Green Turtle Cay, in the Abacos, and again in Marsh Harbor. That is when Kathy and I became good friends, we shared taxi rides to the grocery store and she was a lot a fun just to hang out with. They have two Boston Terriers, so I had some pet time with them.  Kathy is still a working member of society and Martin is a Marine Engineer that is retired…but not really… because he is in such high demand that he takes on jobs that he can charge whatever he wants and the company will pay for his service.  Anyway…Kathy hired a Captain to help bring the boat back to Florida from the Bahamas…because Martin was working and the weather window would close quickly. I was so excited to see Kathy, we got in some good conversations and some shopping time. Martin arrived a few days later and we got to spend an evening with him also. They may still be in Palm Beach when we go back in a few weeks, that would be nice.

When we were in that horrible marina in Fort Lauderdale we had another visitor from our past travels. Our friend and travel companion John Cairns, from our very first trip to the Bahamas, was close by in his RV. If you go back to our older blogs you can read all about John, he is a great friend and we have managed to stay in touch, even when we both move around a lot. He is now married to Kate. When we first meet her, she was his long time girlfriend from Venezuela. They are both so very happy, her English has improved and she loves to chat, I adore her accent.

And now for a very short wildlife count:

Wednesday 4 Feb 2015

·         Flying fish while cruising the Atlantic

Sunday 7 Feb 2015

·         2 Single dolphins, one of which played a long time on our Port side

·         1 Pod of 2 dolphins playing in our bow wake

·         1 pod of 5 dolphins

·         One osprey  in a large nest on a channel marker

Thank you for following us.

Traveling Soul…OUT

South from Brunswick (11 Jan - 29 Jan, 2015)

With apologies to Martin Luther King:

Warm at last

Warm at Last

Thank God Almighty

I’m warm at last

 The story of our trip south from Brunswick, GA is not a story of warmth. But it is a story of the weather; cold, foggy, rainy weather. It wasn’t until 17 January, during our second day at Cocoa, Florida that it became warm enough to take off my sweatshirt and actually go barefoot. It was even later than that before we could enjoy the warmth.

Ok, I can hear some of you now. “Cold … you don’t know cold. Why in (Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Wisconsin, New York – pick one) it was so cold icicles formed on a man’s moustache. It was so cold that …

… Miley Cyrus covered her midriff and put clothes on…

...  hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs!
…roosters were rushing into Kentucky Fried Chicken and begging to use the pressure cooker!  
…the optician was giving away free ice scrapers with every new pair of eyeglasses!
…you chipped a tooth on your soup!

… Playboy magazine stopped publishing because no women would take their clothes off.

… you had to carry around hammers and chisels so we could get out of our pajamas.

…when you milked the cows, you got ice cream! When you milked the brown cows – you got chocolate ice cream!

… the snowman begged you to take him inside at night

Now that you have that out of your system, I will admit that my delicate constitution has, over the years, become used to warm weather (a fact of which I am very proud). In fact, you will notice that there are very few pictures of either Ann or me in this blog. Some people refuse to be photographed in the nude. I refuse to be photographed wearing long pants or socks! In fact, most of this month was consumed in looking for the elusive 70 degree isotherm. Let me explain how it went.

As most of you know, Ann and I left our boat in Brunswick, GA and went back to Northern VA for the holidays. We had a great time with our family and friends. It was, however, cold.

As soon as we arrived back in Brunswick, I realized I had made a strategic mistake. I either did not know, or had forgotten, that southern Georgia got that cold. I don’t remember what the temperature was the day we arrived, but it was way too cold. But it would be okay, I assured myself, we would only be in Georgia for a few more days before we would be on our way south. We were going to Florida – that magic land of warm weather and bikinis; that land where even those of us with the most delicate of constitutions can find warmth. Surely the weather would improve as soon as we crossed the state line.

It didn’t.

A Kamikaze Pelican!!

At first the weather was clear, crisp and cold. We pulled out of our slip in Brunswick without a problem. It wasn’t only cold for us it was cold for the birds. Near Jekyll Island, GA we had one of our first close encounters with attack birds. There were a couple of pelicans who, for some reason, decided to do kamikaze runs on the boat. They would fly fast and low until they were about three feet away from our hull, then they would veer off in one direction or another. Eventually, until one of them decided he would rather join us than fight us, so he landed on the bow of the boat near the pilothouse and let us give him a ride to the other side of the island. He was no more than five feet from us for the whole ride, though he was in front of the glass and we were behind it.

Our plan had been to cross the Florida-Georgia line and spend the night at an anchorage we had used several times before, just outside Fernandina, Florida. We arrived in the middle of the day and decided that it was way too early (and too cold) to stop, and that we should go a little further to an anchorage on the South Amelia River just north of Jacksonville.  Now, one of the great things about anchoring is that I can cook on the grill – and I love cooking outside. In fact, one of the problems with staying at marinas is that they generally do not allow you use an open fire on your boat, so when we get to an anchorage, the first thing I want to do is grill something. That was the plan for our first night on the hook, grilled steaks. Mmmm Mmmm good! But I am telling you, it was so cold … it was so cold that the flames would have frozen on the grill. It was so cold that I didn’t want to cook out!

The fog is starting to lift at Fort George

When we awoke the next morning, it was foggy, very foggy. Still, we could see for about ½ mile or more, so we decided to push on. Well, within the hour, the fog had really rolled in. I mean it really rolled in – to the point where we really couldn’t see more than maybe 100 yards ahead. So, we looked around and found a small anchorage at Fort George where we could stay until the fog lifted. We pulled off the ICW and very carefully started down the Fort George River. But not carefully enough.  Now, in my defense, all three sets of charts that we use show that there is about 8 feet of water at the entrance to the Fort George River at low tide. Unfortunately, the charts are not always right – and they weren’t right this time. We ran aground just inside the entrance.  Luckily, the tide was rising and we just needed to wait a half-hour or so before the tide lifted the boat and we headed back down the river to the anchorage.

We waited in the anchorage for a while and when the fog finally lessened (it never really lifted) we were back on the Intracoastal. We had intended to go to Marineland, a marina we had used before, but because of the delays we went to Saint Augustine instead. As we proceeded and the fog lessened, we were still not out of the woods as it started to rain – a lot; and it started to lightning – a lot. Anyway, we made it to the cold, wet mooring field in St. Augustine, had dinner and went to bed. 
 
When we woke up the following morning, the fog had caught up to us again. We started the engines and got ready to leave, but just as we did the fog became denser. Not only were boats near us covered by fog, but we could not see the shoreline at all. So we waited. And waited. The fog rolled in and rolled out – thought I am not sure it was on little cat feet. We could see the shoreline, then we couldn’t. About 11:30 AM we decided that we had to give it a shot, so we let loose the mooring ball and headed back into the ICW. Eventually, the fog cleared and toward the end of the day, just before we pulled into the Marineland Marina, we actually saw sun!

The weather was good enough that we went out for a walk on the beach. We really like Marineland because there is quite a bit to do. In good weather, you can kayak, run, bike, go to the dolphin research center, etc. After day 1, it was nice enough that we decided to go biking on day 2. There is a long (15 mile?) route along the highway that looked perfect for a ride. But when we got up, it was c-c-c-cold again. I know; I am a chicken rider. L You may find that to be a theme until we get to Palm Beach.

We stopped at New Smyrna Beach because there were not good anchorages in the area and because we hoped it might be warm enough to walk around a little and get some exercise. It wasn’t.

Next, we stopped at Cocoa, Florida. We had anchored here before, but we had never gone ashore and explored. This time we decided we would spend two days in Cocoa Village Marina  and check out the area a little. Well, the first thing that happened was that we saw Gallivant, a 56’ Jefferson Marquessa (the same kind as ours, only 4’ longer) with our friends Don and Pam. Pam was away so we just saw her for a few minutes the day we left, but we got to have drinks and spend more time with Don. Also in Cocoa, we found what seems like the biggest hardware store in the world, S.F Travis Hardware. They have seven buildings each with one or more floors. It was big.

Something else happened in Cocoa. We saw the sun and we found the 70 degree line!!!!!!! The second day we were there, we went out to explore the village that is near the marina and before we knew it we were shedding jackets and sweatshirts. It wasn’t much above 70, but we had finally made it.

After Cocoa we stayed two days on a mooring ball at Vero Beach, one of our favorite places in southern Florida (primarily because of the $13 cost for the mooring ball). We needed to wear sweatshirts most of the time, but it was still close to 70 in the afternoons. On the second day we took a 4 mile walk (read forced march) to the beach. Ann found a little shop where they served ice cream and ordered a cone. That was before she knew she would be attacked – or at least almost attacked – by a second attack bird, this time a seagull! He hovered about 3 feet over her head waiting for her to make a mistake, become less vigilant and give him a swooping angle. She, however, was determined that the gull would not get the ice cream cone so we both ended up taking BIG bites so we could finish before the bird became even more brazen.

After Vero, we traveled the 60+ miles to our preliminary destination, North Palm Beach Marina in (where else) North Palm Beach, Florida. It was nice the day we arrived. It was a little cloudy and not particularly beautiful, but nice. The second day was the best we had seen in months. It was so nice that we decided to clean the boat. It hadn’t been cleaned since thousands of birds pooped all over the deck in Brunswick. The rain, of course, had removed the worst of it, but we still needed to get down and dirty while cleaning the boat. There was a good part to it, however. Are you ready? Are you ready? We were sweating and actually got a little sun on our arms. Yessss! We had made it to the Promised Land – the 75 degree line.

In North Palm we are going to have some work done on the boat (heads and air conditioning), then head further south – all the way to Key West. And that will be the next entry.

 

ANN’S NOTES: Yes…Michael is a happy boater and I am adjusting to the warmer weather. It still has a ways to go, here in North Palm Beach in the morning it is still on the cold side. It does warm up in the early afternoon but cools off again in the evening. Plus it is windy most of the day…so in my mind the Promised Land is still further South.

The fog was pretty amazing…a pain in the derriere to navigate …but interesting to watch roll in and out with no real pattern that you could predict. The only thing you could count on was that it was cold and damp while waiting for it to clear.

Our return visits to familiar marinas, mooring field and anchorages is fun; we know where every thing is and all the worry is gone because…well…we have been there.

We have reunited with some old friends along the way and have made a few new ones. That I must say is one of the many fun things about cruising. You never know how is waiting to meet you.

Michael told you about our bird experiences. The pelican that hitched a ride with us, sitting on our kayak, was one very large bird. The wing span on Pelicans is at least five feet and they can fly just inches from the top of the water. We got to really study the pelican from large head, small eyes, to its very big webbed feet.

The seagull at Vero Beach must have been an extra for the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds. He REALLY wanted my ice cream. He flew behind me until the ice cream was eaten. Michael even threw some sand at him to make him go away but I think the bird had that trick done to him in the past. He was back before Michael could pick up another handful of sand. It was sorta scary to have that pointy beak aiming for your head. Lesson learned…always eat your ice cream under an umbrella while walking on the beach so the seagulls can’t see what you are doing.

Now I need to catch you up on the wild life count..I will go back to November of 2014. I did not have my list with me in VA went the last blog went out…so here we GO…

Friday 21 Nov 2014

·         1 Pod of 2 dolphins

·         3 single dolphins

·         1 splashing on the port side of the boat

·         1 playing in our bow wake

Saturday 22 Nov 2014

·         1 single dolphin

Saturday 29 Nov 2014

·         3 Single dolphins

·         1 pod of 2 dolphins

·         1 Deer

·         2 Horses

Sunday 30 Nov 2014

·         3 single dolphins

·         4 wild horses

·         3 deer

·         3 Armadillos

·         A bunch of beach birds

Monday 1 Dec 2014 (Cumberland Island)

·         Wild horses

·         4  Armadillos

·         1 Bald eagle

·         2 Deer

Thursday 4 Dec 2014

·         2 Single dolphins

Sunday 11 Jan 2015!!!! Our Current Trip

·         3 Kamikaze brown pelicans

·         4 Single dolphins

·         1 pod of 2 dolphins

Monday 12 Jan 2015

·         The tiniest baby crab on our anchor as I pulled it up…it was the size of my pinky nail

2 Pods of 2 dolphins

Tuesday 13 Jan 2015

·         1 Pod of 2 dolphins

·         1 pod of 3 dolphins

Thursday 15 Jan 2015

·         1 single dolphin

·         2 Pods of 2 dolphins

·         1 Bald eagle sitting on marker “G69”

Friday 16 Jan 2015

·         1 Bald eagle

·         2 single dolphins

·         1 pod of 2 dolphins playing on the starboard side of our boat

·         2 pods of 3 dolphins

·         1 pod of 4 dolphins

·         A flock of very bright pink Roseate Spoonbills…maybe Flamingos…not sure…but VERY PINK

Sunday 18 Jan 2015

·         1 single dolphin

·         1 pod of 3 dolphins

·         2 mom dolphins with a baby playing in our wake…baby was learning how to control her back fin and not bump into the other dolphins…she was semi successful in that task.

Monday 19 Jan 2015

·         Crazy ice cream craving attack Sea Gull

Thursday 20 Jan 2015

·         This was Dolphin Playful Thursday on the ICW…all the dolphins that came to the boat stayed and played for a while…I have a video to prove it…

·         5 Single dolphins

·         1 pod of 2

·         4 pods of 3

Thank you for reading and following our adventures…

Traveling Soul…OUT

P.S.

Next blog we will have a surprise!!!!

 

 

 

Beaufort to Brunswick

At 0900 when we had planned to leave Fort Federica (more below), we could see the Lanier Bridge and prepared to get underway. As Ann took her place by the anchor, however, she asked where the bridge was. “What a silly question,” I thought, “she must have turned gotten turned around.” As I started to point out the bridge, I realized that it has disappeared in the fog. The good thing was that we really didn’t need to be anywhere soon. Brunswick, our next destination was only about 2 hours away. We decided, very prudently we thought, that we would wait a while and check again at noon. It is a good thing we did because we heard some boats on the radio that had deployed the first mate to the bow so he/she could see other boats approaching and could point out navigation aids. Yikes!

At noon we hadn’t heard anything on the radio for a while AND we could see the bridge so we decided it was time to go. After about an hour, the bridge disappeared again. This was not good. About 20 minutes later, the water ahead of us began to disappear as a huge fog bank began rolling in. As it approached, I swear it looked as if the fog was consuming the navigation aids, the trees on the banks and even the water itself. Now this was going to be a problem.

We slowed to idle speed (6MPH), turned on the radar, located the ship on the AIS and yes, we put Ann on the bow so she could see things twenty feet earlier than I could. We have been in a dense fog before, but this was dense enough – visibility was about 150-200 meters or so. Then we heard on the radio a securite call. Securite calls are issued when a captain wants to issue a navigational warning that may concern safety at sea, yet may not be particularly life-threatening. This particular securite warning was about a vessel called Emerald Princess. Her captain wanted everyone in receiving distance to know that she was setting to sea – about a mile from where we were. <Gulp!> Now, I know that we could not see Emerald Princess if she was 200 meters in front of us and she could not see us at the same distance. I know from my AIS that she was taking some time to set off from the dock and I could not yet see her on my radar. Still, I was picturing the Emerald Princess from the Princess Cruise Lines. She is a 952 foot long ship with 15 decks and weighs in at 113, 581 tons. Though I must admit I was wondering what the largest ship in the Princess Line was doing leaving from Brunswick, Georgia I didn’t doubt that she was.

As it turned out, our Emerald Princess was not THE Emerald Princess. It was a casino boat from the Golden Isles Cruise Lines that was about 150 feet overall and about four decks high. Moreover, by the time she got underway, we had picked her up, first on radar, than as the fog lifted, visually. Still, we gave her plenty of room. In case you were wondering, no, it wasn’t really scary. But for about thirty minutes it was very nerve wracking!

Well, so much for the excitement! Before the fog and before the fake Emerald Princess we stopped at three anchorages. One was just past Savannah on the Vernon River at Beaulieu or Possum Point (it is called different things in different anchoring books). It was a mediocre anchorage without too much protection, but since the wind wasn’t blowing too hard, it wasn’t a problem. Next we stayed at Duplin Island. It has very good protection from trees from the west, but unfortunately for us, the wind was from the north. In fact, it was so strong that it was actually a bit bumpy in the anchorage the next morning! Still we may have made a discovery. The Duplin River anchorage is about ¼ mile away from the Sapelo Island ferry dock.

Some historians believe Sapelo Island was the site of San Miguel de Gualdape the first European settlement in the present day United States – though it was short-lived (1526–27). If true, it would also be the first place in the U.S. that a Catholic mass was celebrated. The island also houses the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve. Now here is the cool thing. There is a ferry from Sapelo Island to the mainland that brings visitors and tourists. Since we love anchorages that are also historical sites, next spring we are going to find out if we can show up on our dinghy (rather than the ferry) and tour the place!

After the Duplin River anchorage we headed to Fort Federica. We had been here before so didn’t go ashore; we just waited for the fog to lift. Still, Fort Frederica has a history, about which I wrote last November:

Fort Frederica itself is one of those national monuments of which very few people have ever heard. According to the National Park Service, Georgia's fate was decided in 1742 when Spanish and British forces clashed on St. Simons Island. Fort Frederica's troops defeated the Spanish, ensuring Georgia's future as a British colony. Today, the archeological remnants of Frederica are protected as a National Monument. As I am sure everyone knows, the Battle of Bloody Marsh, near Ft. Frederica, took place during the “War of Jenkins’ Ear,” which, as far as I know, is the only war named after a body part. In case you were wondering, according to Wikipedia, “Its unusual name … refers to an ear severed from Robert Jenkins, captain of a British merchant ship. The severed ear was subsequently exhibited before Parliament.  The tale of the ear's separation from Jenkins, following the boarding of his vessel by Spanish coast guards in 1731, provided the impetus to war against the Spanish Empire …”

Frederica was followed by our harrowing encounter with the fog after which we arrived at our destination Brunswick, GA.

We stayed at Brunswick through Thanksgiving. There were about 100 people at the Marina Thanksgiving celebration. The owner of the marina provided all the food, except dessert. A number of the cruisers brought a dessert to share. Ann made and brought a scrumptious apple pie. We met Jim and Paula on Sea Eagle on their way to Sanford, Florida other folks who live in and around Brunswick.

Now, according to the locals, Brunswick has not had any snow in over 28 years – and it did not snow while we were there. But it was COLD, WET and MISERABLE!!! I mean seriously cold, wet and miserable. It was so bad I was in long pants – again!!! It was so cold I actually got the coax cable out of storage and hooked up the cable TV. Man oh man, I do not want to belittle global warming, but couldn’t we have just a little bit down here in southern Georgia?

Brunswick isn’t like many of the towns and cities we normally visit. It isn’t an exclusively tourist town and it isn’t one of those dying fishing villages; it is as much an industrial center and seaport as it is anything else. It is kind of like a miniature Baltimore in that respect.  Like the islands in the area, Brunswick was initially settled in 1738 as a buffer to Spanish Florida. The Brits never did trust those Spaniards down in Florida and were always concerned that they would start coming north.

The Brunswick Excursion

If you look closely, you can see a small rafter of turkeys.

After Thanksgiving we decided to take a week-long cruise around Brunswick to check out some of the area. We decided to go to Cumberland Island, to St. Mary’s and Jeckyll Island. Cumberland we had visited before and liked it so much, we thought it would be worth another visit. St. Mary’s is a traditional cruiser’s destination to which we had never been. The town puts on a big Thanksgiving for cruiser’s that we were going to attend before we decided to go to the marina’s instead. Jeckyll is one of Georgia’s barrier islands that has been developed as a tourist destination with a number of hotels, restaurants and at least one marina – that we planned on visiting. We figured it would take a week to do these places justice, so off we went.

Our first stop was our southern –most destination, Cumberland Island.  When we arrived there were about 15 boats there, by the time we left there were about ten. We anchored in the northern half of the anchorage which I believe gave us the best protection and the best view of the other boats arriving.

The main road on
Cumberland Island

We had visited Cumberland before and had already seen the feral horses. This time, though, we saw the full panoply of animals, several horses, four separate armadillos, a bunch of individual deer and at least two different a rafters of turkeys. (Do you like the way I snuck in “rafter of turkeys?” A rafter is a gathering of turkeys. In one rafter there were about ten, in the other there were maybe four.) We also paid more attention to the history of the island (Ann is really getting into it) and went shelling on the National Seashore. For some reason we found more and varied shells last year, but we managed to pick up a few.

After a couple of days at Cumberland Island, we went to St. Mary’s, GA. St. Mary’s traditionally puts on a huge Thanksgiving bash for all cruisers in the neighborhood. Initially we had planned to go to St. Mary’s for Thanksgiving, but changed our minds at the last minute and decided to stay at our marina in Brunswick. Anyway, besides a huge harbor that could easily hold a hundred boats at anchor, the town also has three museums, one focused on Cumberland Island, one at Orange Hall, a well-maintained 1740ish mansion built in the Greek Revival style, and the Submarine Museum. Yes, you read that right, the Submarine Museum. King’s Bay Naval Submarine Base, right next door to St. Mary’s, is the home port for all Trident submarines in the Atlantic Fleet. The town has a kind of homemade museum that consists of donated artifacts. It is interesting and kind of fun to explore.

The second floor of the submarine museum in St. Mary's

After a couple of days at St. Mary’s we started meandering back towards Brunswick, but before we did, we had to stop at Jeckyll Island, another of Georgia’s barrier islands. Jeckyll is a very developed, resort-type island with water parks (too cold to use while we were there) several hotels, a number of restaurants, a few historical sites and bike paths galore! I was able to go bike riding only one time, though, as the fog was so bad it kept us inside a lot of the time. We managed to get out a couple of times on the marina’s golf cart (substitute for a car) so we could get to the grocery store, some souvenir shops and a small museum. As I suggested above, though, the name of the game at Jeckyll was FOG. In fact, we had intended to leave on 4^th  December and ended up staying another day because of the fog!

Our Coast Guard Inspectors

The trip from Jeckyll Island to Brunswick Landing Marina was only about an hour-and-a-half, BUT on the way, we were stopped by the United States Cast Guard! Once in a while the Coast Guard will stop a boat for a simple safety inspection. In the three years we have been full-time cruisers we had never been stopped, but in Brunswick Harbor,  just as we were turning into the creek that led to the marina, we saw the flashing lights and the coast guardsmen that meant we were about to be boarded. We weren’t quite sure how they were going to get on the boat, but that is only because we had forgotten how athletic young men in their late teens/early twenties can be. Four young men jumped (literally) from their boat to ours to make sure we had all the equipment and paperwork necessary to operate a boat safely in US waters. And … we … PASSED!!! The next time the Coast Guard wants to check us out, all we have to do is show them our paperwork.

ANN’S Notes: Since we are in Virginia over the Holidays and all my notes are on the boat in Brunswick GA. I will not have my wild count in this issue. I will update you in the next blog issue.

Ann's luscious Thanksgiving Apple Pie

While we were at the marina in Jeckyll Island, we had our cruising friends, now RV land cruising friends, come visit us. It was wonderful seeing Russ and Lori again and enjoyed having lunch in a rather POSH restaurant. The food was good and pricey but the company was priceless and excellent.

Thanksgiving was fun but loud. 100 people in the same room all waiting to be fed proved to be an interesting experience. The apple pie was a first for me, I made it in a ten inch cast iron pan, it was yummy and I had to pull it off the “share” table so our table could have some. There was plenty of other sweets, so I did not feel too bad.

To close my part of the blog,I will end with a poem I saw on the cruising  Facebook page,

 

 We wish you all a Merry Christmas and have a Healthy and Blessed New Year.

Traveling Soul..

OUT..