Weather, weather, weather

Well, friends, It seems that Georgia has a hold on us!

Our first order of business upon our return was to complete some boat jobs. So far we have mounted our new 44 pound anchor on the bow, mounted a new winch, installed doors and a knife rack in the galley, added an interior compass, installed new parts in our diesel heater so that it will burn more consistently, and cleaned the burner as well, added a chase to increase the air supply to our diesel, as well as a fan to direct air to the engine. We have refilled a propane tank, done laundry, done a major provisioning, scrubbed the decks (amazing how many bird droppings accumulate when you leave your boat for 6 weeks). The route is in the chartplotter from here to Fernandina Beach, FL.

We were planning to finally leave this morning, but then the forecast was for 100% chance of rain. As you all know, we are an open cockpit boat, and even with a dodger, it isn't a lot of fun to be underway with rain and 50 degree temps. So here we are, still. Our dockspace is paid for until Sunday, Feb 7, so it is easy to just stay until the weather is better. Forecast is for rain again Thurs and Friday, and then a high pressure system is due to move in on Saturday. So that looks like our chance to make a break for it! We need 3 to 4 good days to get into Florida; there is only one marina between here and Jekyll Island, and it is too close to where we are now to be a useful stop, so we will be anchoring out, which is fine, but we would like to have some decent weather. Florida beckons, but we need a good weather window to get out of Georgia!

Speaking of weather, it has been unusually cold here; we have had three or four nights of temperatures in the high 20's. Yesterday I said to Dick, "The docks are crunchy this morning and we aren't walking on granola!" Daytime temps have been mostly in the 50's. Certainly warmer than back home, but not what one would expect in Georgia. Florida is having warmer temps, so we look forward to getting there!

Isle of hope Marina has been a wonderful place to be. We highly recommend it to our cruising friends. The people are friendly, helpful and love dogs, the floating, concrete docks are in excellent condition, the showers are hot, Wifi is provided by the marina, and they have not one but 2 loaner cars! It is very easy to get to the grocery store, Walmart, etc, etc. We are really getting to know our way around here! In fact, we would seriously consider moving here eventually. Isle of Hope is a beautiful residential area. On Sunday we took the day off, went to church in downtown Savannah (the Independent Presbyterian Church, a beautiful building, and it was full!), and spent some time touring the downtown historic area. It was a very chilly (40's) day, so we didn't walk around too much, but Savannah is a very beautiful city. Would like to see more in warmer weather.