Great Visit with Family

Tuesday, Nov. 5:

My sister, Penny, and her husband, Mal, brought my Mom to Daytona. My niece, Lisa, her husband, Jerry, and their daughter Zoe, brought my other niece, Lynn. They all live in Jacksonville. My sister, Susie, and her husband, Mike, were in Daytona celebrating their birthdays.

Penny brought me some bulky items and then took me to Publix to do some more provisioning. It’s the first major shopping I’ve done since Wilmington, NC, when my friend, Mike, took me shopping.

After I put the cold stuff away, we met the Jacksonville crew at Daytona Ale House for a wonderful meal. The guys sat together to shoot the breeze and all the ladies and Zoe sat at another table. They had two big groups there already and couldn’t accommodate us at one table, so we took two booths back to back.

I sat on a padded chair because of my back injury. It was great to see everyone! I can’t wait to see them again.

Tomorrow: Titusville, FL

The gang's all here...visiting with family in Daytona, FL.

Zoe was so proud she made her coat into a cape.

Arrived in Daytona Safely, then Fell Off the Boat and Injured My Back! Visit from Friends

Monday, Nov. 4

The sun was bright and shining at 6:45 a.m. when we launched due to the time change. Winds were high, 20-25 with gusts near 30.

The Crescent Beach Bridge was in 10 miles away and opens on demand. We reached SM 790 at 8:10 a.m.

At Fort Matanzas inlet, the markers were drastically changed from the last trip and, again, our GPS showed we were in the marshes. The sun went in for a while and it was cloudy and cool for about an hour before it came from behind the clouds.

The tide and current were pushing us at 10 earlier this morning, but was over our bow by 11 a.m. and was slowing us to 7.4. We were heeling without any sail out.

While going through Ormond Beach, we noted the ICW was wide, but the channel was very narrow. Winds were 18 knots.

We heard from our old Atlantic County Harley club friends, Cliff and Carol, who winter here, and invited them to Sheet Music to visit. I took Jazzy for a little walk after greeting them at the gate. When I got back to the boat, I lifted Jazzy up and went to jump up without realizing I didn’t have a hold on the boat and went down backwards, falling on the concrete finger pier/dock. I laid there for more than 10 minutes, breathing short, shallow breaths, which Chuck was panicking asking if I need an ambulance. It hurt so bad and my back was spasming. Thankfully, I was able to get myself together and Chuck lifted me up. I took a flexeril and ibuprofen right away.

I slept in the salon with ice packs off and on all night. My back is hurting, but I am better than I expected to be today. My shin took a few good hits on the way down, so I expect to see bruising tomorrow.

My sister, Susie, and her husband, Mike, are here celebrating their wedding anniversary. My sister and mom will be here around 3 p.m. Penny did some bulk provisioning for me and will take me to Publix for perishable groceries when they get here. Later tonight, my niece Lisa and her family and my niece, Lynn, are coming from Jacksonville to join us for dinner.

Looking forward to spending time with family and hoping my back holds out!

Sunrise leaving St. Augustine mooring field.

Daytona has the most beautiful bridge we've seen yet
 with tile mosaics of manatees and dolphins.

Adjusting the spring lines.

Cliff and Carol came to visit!

Laying on ice pack after falling on concrete floating pier. Stupid!

Fun in St. Augustine; On to Daytona!

Sunday, Nov. 3

We took Jazzy for a walk around the bulkhead down to the fort, then put her on the boat and went off for the day. My niece called and she was hungover from tailgating from the Georgia/Florida game, so we’ll catch up with her on Tuesday with the rest of the gang. Oh, to be young again. LOL.

Chuck and I walked around Historic St. Augustine, stopping at Kilwin’s for caramel apples. We looked at several menus along the way and nothing appealed to us, so we walked back near the marina to the A1A Ale House for dinner and some football.

We shared 10 wings with a mango BBQ sauce, lobster/shrimp tacos and a few glasses of their house lager. Delicious!

When we got back to Sheet Music, we took the motor off the dinghy and got the boat ready for the morning. It ended up being a long night, tough to get to sleep with wind gusts topping 30 mph. I was glad we weren’t anchored and they were new moorings.

Tomorrow: Daytona

Lunch/dinner at A!A Ale House. Yum!

Getting the dinghy ready for morning

Daddy and Jazzy resting

The mooring field at night...pretty!

In St. Augustine, FL, in New Mooring Field

We woke up during the night a few times to the sound of rain pounding above our heads. It was going to be a wet morning. Yuk. It can’t always be a beautiful sunrise!

I made scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and coffee for breakfast. Chuck pulled anchor about 7:50 a.m. and we were off to a rainy start.

I put a trash bag over a cushion and sat on that. When I got tired of the rain, I went below with Jazzy. At 10 a.m., I decided to give her a bath. It was time for her Frontline and she can’t have a bath for 5 days afterward, so I wanted to give her a bath first since she sleeps with me.

Then I made the skipper and I hot chocolate.

It rained off and on all day. We had the dodger window opened so we could see.

Chuck took a shower while we were in the narrow section of Tolomato River, while I was at the helm. We went through the 1:30 p.m. opening of the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, then pulled into the municipal marina to top off fuel, water and get pumpout.

We’re hooked on our assigned mooring ball, #39.

We got settled, put the motor on the dinghy, and Chuck took Jazzy and I up to the marina’s laundry and I threw two loads in. After I put them in the dryer, we walked around a few blocks of the historic district and circled back around.

We dinghied back to the boat when the laundry was done and had soup for dinner…corn chowder for me and red crab for Chuck.

Tomorrow my niece, Lynn Leite McKenzie, is joining us for lunch. I can’t wait to see her!

Hauling in the anchor in the pouring rain this morning.

This huge container ship passed us this morning.

Navy ship

Jazzy after her bath

Sheet Music on Mooring #39

The setting sun shining on the harbor.

Rough Day on the Water; Anchored in the Mouth of Fort George River

The sky was red, the wind was howling and we were crossing the St. Andrews Sound. It was granola and fiber one bars for breakfast. It is All Saints Day and we hoped they were with us, and they were!

There was a lot of current in the Cumberland River. Wind were 15-20 knots. Our speed was less than 6.

We noted that at SM 701, markers 60-62A were moved and our GPS showed we were in the marshes, but we followed the markers, not the magenta line.

As the day progressed, we had up to 26 knots of wind in our faces. The tide reversed and was finally in our favor and we picked up speed to 6.5. The dodger was getting splashed and I was thankful for my stadium blanket with the windbreaker on the outside to keep Jazzy and I dry.

At marker 43, we started “hobby horsing,” because the waves were close together and we were moving at 10 knots. Chuck started tacking back and forth and that made it more pleasant.

At 11:40 a.m., we crossed into Florida. Once we turned into the Amelia River, the current was against us and slowed us to 6 knots SOW, 5 over land. We went through the twin bridges and the current was fierce, slowing us to 4.5 going under the bridges. Between markers 39 and 42 in the South Amelia River, we saw 4.6 feet in a few spots at dead low tide.

We crossed the Nassau River into Sawpit Creek and there was a dredge. It looked like it was going across the whole waterway and it was hard to see where to go. We looked with binoculars and thought we figured it out, then the skipper called the dredge to confirm before proceeding. We had to hug the bank to go to his starboard, go behind him, then turn left.

We are anchored just inside the mouth of the Fort George River. Chuck hated this anchorage on the way through the first trip because we had the wrong anchor, but we had no problems on the way back after buying a new anchor and there are few places to throw the hook.

Tomorrow: St. Augustine, where we have a reservation Saturday and Sunday nights for a mooring ball in the new mooring field. We’ll dinghy to shore, where my niece is driving down from Jacksonville and will meet us for lunch on Sunday.

The sky as we were leaving our marina.

The sky 10 minutes later.

The markers were moved since we were here
and our GPS thought we were in the marshes!

A homeland security boat by the Naval yard.

The current was whipping through these bridges!

The dredge in Sawpit Creek.

The dredge.

Went to the Beach at Jekyll Island, Ga.; Fueled Up; Anchoring in Florida Tomorrow

Spent the morning cleaning and reorganizing the boat. Then Chuck took Jazzy for a walk while I made bacon and French toast for breakfast.Then we moved the boat to the fuel dock, fueled up and moved back to our spot on the transient dock. They had five boats coming in at once yesterday, so we didn't fuel up when we arrived.

We left Jazzy on the boat and walked up to the new convention center on the ocean side of the island. There is so much development since we were here four years ago. They put sidewalks in everywhere and really beautified the area. A bike path was added all around the island and the marina has free bicycles to loan.

There's a Days Inn down from the convention center and three more hotels and a shopping complex are under construction.

It felt good to get our toes in the sand and the ocean! It was 80 degrees here today. We even turned the air conditioning on in the boat when we got back to the marina.

We fueled up and are ready to head to Florida tomorrow. We're planning on staying in an anchorage just below Fernandina Beach.

I made NY strip steaks, baked potatoes and a Caesar salad for dinner. Then we walked up and sat at a picnic table with a bottle of wine and listened to the band that was playing at Sea Jay's. I even got Chuck to dance under the trees. It was a wonderful evening.

Tomorrow: Anchorage in Ft. George River or Sisters Creek

This is part of a mile-long barge that went past us today!

Walking to the new convention center on Jekyll Island.

The beach!

We near the very back on the right.

Tonight's sunset...beautiful!

We're in Jekyll Island, Ga.; Enjoyed Dinner with Friends (Again!)

We left Kilkenny Creek at 7:30 a.m. We had planned to anchor in the Duplin River tonight. We passed SM 620 at 8:20 a.m. We went down Bear River, across St. Catherine South, down North Newport River, into Johnson Creek. At 9:50 a.m. Johnson Creek ran into the South Newport River and at 10 a.m. we entered Sapelo Sound. We crossed SM650 at 10 a.m.

The skipper checked the trip odometer reading. We went 1,050 statute miles so far. The current was pulling us out to the sound at 9.7 knots. Then it slowed us to 6.5 after we turned at marker 138A. We went down the Front River, through Old Tea Kettle Creek into the Duplin River.

We pulled out the main sail at 10:25 a.m. to try to get some speed and better fuel mileage.

We saw lots of dolphins today. We reached our anchorage at 11:50 a.m. and decided to keep going. It was a beautiful warm and sunny day and it was too early to stop.

Between SM 654 and 655 we had to slow down because it was dead low tide and we were seeing 4.6 feet of water in some places!

We continued into the North River, through Little Mud River and into Buttermilk Sound. At SM 660, a few minutes before 2 p.m., I took the helm for a few minutes in Buttermilk Sound while Chuck added 5 gallons of fuel . Then we headed down the Mackay River.

We were in touch with Jim and Ruth Edwards and Sandy and Joe McConnell. They were in Jekyll Island for the day! So we called to see if there was a slip at Jekyll Island Harbor Marina so we could meet them for dinner again.

We entered St. Simon’s Sound at 4 p.m. and Jekyll Creek at 4:40 p.m., motor sailing at 7 mph. We pulled alongside the transient pier just before 5 p.m., where our friends were waiting for us.

We went to Sea Jay’s Waterfront Café and Pub here. We had Chuck’s birthday dinner there four years ago. I had a cup of Heart Brunswick Stew and half a shrimp salad sandwich on a croissant for dinner, Chuck had a hamburger, both with wine, of course!

We’ll probably stay here tomorrow so we can spend a day on land and our insurance stipulates we can’t cross the Georgia/Florida border until Friday.

This morning on our way out of Kilkenny.

A few minutes later...

Dead low tide. We saw many markers with no water.

Adding 5 gallons of fuel.

Jazzy met some new friends on the dock.

Dinner with friends on Jekyll Island, Ga.