Saturday, May 1, 2010

The dog that wouldn't "go"!

Palm Coast was a great stop; friendlly staff, good facilities, great walking. We stayed 2 nights, and while we were there, we had the bottom of the boat cleaned and the zinc changed. Both long overdue jobs!

Then on to St. Augustine, where we decided to anchor out this time. When we first arrived, all was fairly calm, but soon after the hook went down, the breeze really piped up from the south, so all the boats in the anchorage were moving around a lot. It was several hours before we could finally lower the dinghy and go ashore. We went to the same restaurant where we had an excellent dinner on Valentine's Day, but after a long wait, and still no dinner, we finally had to leave to get back before dark. Oh, well, better luck next time!

On to Palm Cove Marina, Jacksonville Beach, another spot we had stopped at on the way down. Two nights here, as the forecast was for thunderstorms. These actually did materialize (NOAA got it right for once!), so we were glad we stayed. It gave us a chance to do laundry, walk to Publix, and clean the boat. Here we met Ted and Malla on their Freedom 33, and enjoyed cocktails with them in our cockpit. That the thunderstorms and heavy rain moved through while they were aboard was not a problem, thanks to our new enclosure!

On to Fernandina Beach. We had planned to pick up a mooring here, but the wind was gusting up to 25 knots from the west, right across the mooring field. Would not be a problem, except that once again, we need to get our good friend Colby ashore, so we arranged for dock space. The dock hands at Fernandina Harbor Marina are excellent! They are skilled at boat handling. Given the conditions, we really needed help getting in. We had not stopped here on the way south, so we enjoyed walking around this pretty town, enjoying ice cream and chatting with the many friendly folks who wanted to talk to Colby. We bought fresh seafood at the Atlantic Seafood Market, right next door.

Underway the next day, we were hailed by "Black Powder," a Navy ship (200+ feet long) that was out doing manuvers along with another ship just as large. We were under sail at that time, and were asked simply to "keep to the red side" of the channel. We passed St. Mary's submarine base, but no subs in sight today. On to Cumberland Island. We had heard from several friends that this was a beautiful spot to visit. We anchored at the Plum Orchard anchorage, in the Brickhill River, and really enjoyed this spot. A great dinghy dock and wide open fields for Colby to run and play!

Next day, on to the anchorage by Fort Frederica, mentioned in Skipper Bob as a dog-friendly anchorage. Boy, was Colby disappointed! Skipper Bob says the dinghy dock is only available at high tide. OK, we could all deal with that. It was low tide when we anchored, so we waited. Then dinghy down, Richard and Colby off to the dinghy dock. BUT, the dock was under construction, and only half of it existed! Fort Frederica is a National Monument. Our federal tax dollars are definitely not at work here. Dick was able to get himself and Colby on the half dock, found a few loose planks lying around (this project had been abandoned a long time ago), and put some in place as a ramp for Colby. He took one look at this, and turned around and jumped back in the dinghy!! Uh uh, not doing that! So back to the boat, and then we walked Colby up to the foredeck, and gave him permission to relieve himself there. He promptly turned around and ran back to the cockpit! Uh, uh, not doing that on MY boat!! So in the AM, we tried again, to no avail, so we set off, both of us feeling bad for our good friend. And this day was a long one, 9 and 1/2 hours on the water. We finally made it to Kilkenny Creek Marina, and as soon as the dock lines were tied, Karen had Colby off the boat. Now this was a happy dog! 36 hours is a long time!!! We all went for a nice long walk.

Yesterday, we traveled to Isle of Hope Marina, near Savannah. This is where we left our boat to go home for Christmas. It was kind of like being back home again! A friendly greeting from the dock staff, and Patty, the office manager, even showed up on her day off to say hello to us and Colby! One of the many nice features about this marina is the courtesy cars; we went to a nearby Mexican restaurant that we enjoyed last time, then to Walmart for some provisions. We plan to be here a few days, to do some boat projects and to be sure that we are well provisioned before we start up through South Carolina and North Carolina.

The weather certainly is different than when we left in February. Today it is 88 degrees! Temps have been definitely on the warm side recently! A down side to this is the bugs; lots of "no-see-ums" especially in the evening. We are certainly glad that we have all opening ports with screens. Today is Saturday, and there is lots of boat traffic, folks out enjoying the beautiful day!

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