Tuesday - In Georgia

Tuesday morning was cool and dreary.  The forecast of partly cloudy and warmer wasn't proving true, again.
We set off from Fernandina Harbor Marina at 8 am under a grey sky on what would be our last voyage of the year. 

Catie kept me company, and provided warmth, at the wheel.

A flock of seagulls followed us out, especially since Beth was feeding them which kept the babies entertained. 

We passed Fort Clinch at Fernandina Beach and headed into Georgia by Cumberland Island.

As soon as we crossed into Georgia, the current was against us and slowing us to 3 knots.  About 1/2 way up Cumberland Island the tide shifted and we were up to 8 knots.  We saw the submarine base in Kings Bay and its associated patrol boats.

The sun finally started coming out around 1pm and by 2 it was warming things up, the wind calmed down and it was a nice day.

Then the St. Simons Island lighthouse came into view and we were close to where we would be docking the boat.

We docked the boat with ease at its new home, at least for awhile, and secured everything and took the babies for a walk to look around.  This is a private marina but it is well protected and is a gated community.  We were treated to a beautiful sunset on our final voyage of the year.

As we wrap up our trip for 2011 we will be at home for the holidays, recanting our adventure to anyone that will listen, planning our next adventure.  We fondly remember all the people we met along the way and the people who supported us on this trip and wish them fair winds and following seas, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.


We will not be updating the blog while we are on land until we begin our next adventure.  Please click the Followers link at the top right of the blog AND/OR the Follow us by Email link at the bottom of the blog to be updated when we do post again.

We will be updating the Photo Gallery over the next few weeks so feel free to browse all the photos we took along our way.

To All of our friends, wherever they may be !!

Sunday and Monday

Sunday was a planned day not to go anywhere but get some stuff done.  I managed to get my immediate list completed and Beth completed hers as well.  The weather wasn't as bad as the forecast but I am glad we were tied to the dock.  The winds were out of the north at 20+ knots and it was cold.  The birds seem to hang around the marina and Catie and Cocoa loved that feature of the marina.  When we took them out for a walk, we let them patrol the docks.

We checked the weather and decided to stay here another day as the forecast was wind, cold, and rain. 

Monday:  It looks like Beth is getting better and I am getting worse.  I guess it was time to trade this cold.  I stayed on the boat all day, surfing the net and relaxing.  The forecast was correct, it started raining after midnight and the power went off around 1am. The weather during the day was more of the same, off and on again rain, blustery wind and nasty grey skies.  Beth found a drugstore nearby and picked up some cold remedy medicine and took care of me.  While I was surfing, I located a new home for "Second Chance".  We will be docking her in St. Simons Island at the Yacht Club for the holidays and for a while thereafter while I refit her for additional cruising.  While this is a little bit further of a drive from Ellijay, it is closer to our preferred cruising area as well as better facilities.  We will head out from Fernandina Beach tomorrow and should be at our new "home" tomorrow afternoon.  This will give us a couple of days to get everything settled and head to Ellijay for the holidays.

Saturday - So Close

Departed early under overcast skies and very cool temperatures.  The Sun showed itself a few times during the day but only briefly. 

The majority of the day was overcast and cold. The wind was pretty much out of the north and 15 to 25 knots which made the wind chill very cold and the water quite choppy. 

Beautiful homes / estates along the ICW in Ponte Vedra

The opposite side of the ICW is all nature.

We made good time today for 52 miles.  We caught the St. John's River just right where we were able to take advantage of the river current as well as the ebb tide and were motoring along at over 8 knots for a little while. For the most part we averaged 6 knots.  We saw lots of pods of dolphins playing along the way and passed dozens of boats headed south.  We always wave and they wave back as we pass.

Catie takes her shift on watch

We considered stopping at Amelia Island Yacht Basin which is where we stayed the last time we were in this area but their channel to the actual marina is very narrow and almost too narrow for Second Chance at low tide which is when we passed them.  The Amelia Island Yacht Basin is a very nice marina and was great the last time we were through but we opted to continue on to the Fernandina Harbor Marina.  The marina is less expensive and very nice.  They are due to be dredged soon as they were concerned with our draft and once they get that done, this will be the place to stay in the area.  The marina staff was great, helped us with our dock lines and provided good information.  The marina is located right in downtown Fernandina Beach, FL which has all kinds of shops nearby.  We are close enough to Georgia to actually see it from the marina, it is 1 mile north.  We still have over 100 miles to go to our actual destination, but its good to see Georgia.

The weather tomorrow is forecast to be worse than today, wind mostly and cooler with a possibility of rain, so we have decided to stay here for two nights.  This will give us a chance to rest, explore Fernandina Beach, do laundry, stow the dinghy and fix (replace) that cockpit speaker that has been driving me nuts. 

I made chicken and stuffing for dinner as Beth had been craving it.  She is feeling a little better today but not 100% yet. I am sure the day of rest tomorrow will help.

Check-in/OK message from Second Chance SPOT Messenger

Second Chance
Latitude:30.67089
Longitude:-81.46597
GPS location Date/Time:12/10/2011 16:08:55 EST

Message:Living the dream !
All is well.

Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Friday - St. Augustine

Up before the dawn, again.  Beth got up, walked the dogs while I prepared to get us underway.  It was warmer this morning and it wasn't necessary to bundle up quite as much.  The tide and wind were with us at the start but that changed quickly.  The wind became out of the northeast as it became stronger and the tide turned about noon and slowed us down.  Beth wasn't feeling much better, in fact she was worse so she took the dogs into the berth and slept till about 2pm. 

We crossed the halfway point between inlets and the tide was with us so we started making good time.

  Ft Matanzas at the tip of Rattlesnake Island

Bridge of Lions - St. Augustine, FL

We arrived in St. Augustine for the 3pm opening of the bridge of lions and by 4pm, we had refueled, made it to our slip for the night and secured the boat. 

St Augustine Light House

Castillo de San Marcos

St Augustine's Cross

The marina we chose for today is the Camachee Island Marina, just slightly north of St. Augustine but by far, one of the best marina's we have ever stayed at.  The dock hands that greeted us and fueled us up were friendly and helpful, The office staff was great and the overall marina is fantastic.  This marina is definately one of the upper scale marina's but at a very reasonable price.  They give discounts for BoatUS members, have clean facilities, beautiful grounds, numerous shops within the area and they have courtesy cars.  Once we were settled we took advantage of one of the courtesy cars to make a quick Winn Dixie run, with a stop at West Marine. 
I have always enjoyed the beef that Winn Dixie has so when I saw they had steaks on sale, I knew what was for dinner.  Once we finished with Winn Dixie and West Marine, we headed back to the boat, unpacked, and relaxed for a bit.  I had chosen a beautiful porterhouse steak for dinner and after using the grill on the boat to cook it to perfection, I dropped it into the water.  It was a true oops moment.  Just as the steak was done and I was taking it off the grill to put on the plate, it went swimming.  Needless to say I was greatly disappointed but I am sure some fish or crab really enjoyed my dinner.  I had also picked up a nice pork steak so I grilled that and Beth did share some of her steak with me.  After dinner, We watched some TV and we now have our local channels back so we relaxed.

We made 52 miles today which given the wind and the shifting tides, we did pretty good.  Much of our distance is dependent on where we can get before dark and where the marina's happen to be.  This is the last marina north of St. Augustine for another couple of hours sailing. 

Check-in/OK message from Second Chance SPOT Messenger

Second Chance
Latitude:29.91662
Longitude:-81.30826
GPS location Date/Time:12/09/2011 15:50:54 EST

Message:Living the dream !
All is well.

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/6d4N6/29.91662N/81.30826W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
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Thursday - On to Daytona

Woke up early to a very cold morning.  It was 40 degrees as the cold front had passed during the night.  I am so glad we have heat onboard.  Beth walked the dogs and we all bundled up and set out.

The wind was strong and it was directly on the bow again.  It would be a full day of motoring up the ICW. 

It looked like even the birds ( ducks, pelicans, seagulls ) were huddling to keep warm.

We were not sure but we suspected these guys wanted in where it was warm.

Trailer / Rv city right on the water

 The lighthouse at Daytona Beach

We made pretty good time except when the current was against us and covered 46 miles today.

We made the last timed bridge before they shut down for rush hour and made it to Loggerhead Marina.

Welcome to Daytona Beach

It was still quite cool so Beth bundled up and took the dogs for a walk while I got the boat secured and got us settled in.  Beth made an alfredo dish for dinner and we relaxed for the evening.

Check-in/OK message from Second Chance SPOT Messenger

Second Chance
Latitude:29.22688
Longitude:-81.02124
GPS location Date/Time:12/08/2011 16:38:33 EST

Message:Living the dream !
All is well.

Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Wednesday

Up early and Beth cooperated by getting up and taking the dogs out.  We got going and the sky was cloudy with a slight breeze.  Once the sun came out from behind the clouds it was a very nice day. 

We made excellent time and sailed most of the day.  We passed Cape Canaveral and the last time we were here was back in May when they were preparing the last shuttle launch. We didn't see any activity today.

As we were about to go under the drawbridge exiting NASA the bridge operator hailed us and told us to abort as he had an emergency vehicle approaching and had to shut the bridge.  We dropped sail, turned hard and missed the bridge as he was closing it.  We idled around for a bit waiting for the ambulance to cross then he reopened the bridge and we continued on our way.  That was the excitement for the day.

We progressed about 58 miles today which is pretty good considering we stopped about two hours early.  The reason we stopped was this was the last available marina for about 20 miles which would have put us cruising after dark.  We stopped at the Titusville Municipal Marina.  The locals are very friendly and the marina is across the street from a dog park.  Beth took the dogs out for a play which they enjoyed immensely. After checking in and Beth got back, we talked with a few people and were told that Chops restaurant was very good and within walking distance.  We walked over with Bruce Senay and Gina Gibson aboard the S/V DreamCatcher.  We all shared stories about our travels and enjoyed a very good meal.  We returned to the boat and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Check-in/OK message from Second Chance SPOT Messenger

Second Chance
Latitude:28.62016
Longitude:-80.80991
GPS location Date/Time:12/07/2011 15:10:40 EST

Message:Living the dream !
All is well.

Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Tuesday

Up a little later than planned which meant a later start.  The skies were cloudy and the wind was light.
We made good time up the canal and even got to sail some but most of it is motoring.  We passed the inlet to the Okeechobee waterway about noon and were in Vero Beach by 1pm.  This meant we are back on familiar waterways as we came down the coast to this point.  Beth still didn't feel great today so she slept for a good part of the day and isn't better this evening.

A few pics of the scenery along the way.

We made it to ICWW marker 934 today which marked great progress of 58 statute miles considering we left an hour later and quit about an hour earlier.  The waterway is tidal so occasionally we get a little bonus speed from that and at one point when we had good wind and the current, we were sailing along at 7.3 knots.  The other big bonus is that we are out of the metropolis of south Florida and all but one bridge today was high enough that we just cruised right through.  We have encountered numerous boats, sail and motor, heading south for the season.  We try to look at where they are from and have seen numerous Canadians, New Yorkers, and many others.  There don't seem to be too many boats heading north.

We made it to Sebastian Inlet Marina where we fueled up, made spaghetti and settled in for the night.  Sebastian Marina is one of those marina's that most sailboats couldn't get into.  Their info states their channel is 5 ft. at low tide, Its more like 5ft at high tide.  We made it in without stirring up any mud but the motor cruiser that came in behind us left a muddy wake.  There are definite advantages to a shallow draft cat that fits into a regular slip.