1/10 Warmed up but...

Sunday was just plain cold.  Monday morning was even colder.  BUT... the boat would not start.  Neither would the generator.  We figured it had to be cold fuel.  So we put our heater in the engine room and turned up the heat in the cabin and opened the hatch.  It warmed up but the engine still didn't start. 

This morning, Jason from the marina came to look at it.  Well, it was not the cold.  As it turns out, the fire suppression system had a short in it and was shutting off the fuel.  So now, we can run the engine and the generator.  Yeah!!  We decided to spend another day here in Beaufort, so we would not go through the Ashepoo Coosaw area at low tide.

Beaufort has been very nice.  Mary, one of the dock masters, drove me over to down town Beaufort.  What a pleasant way to spend a few hours.  I explored unique shops, had a spumoni gelato and walked the waterfront.  On the waterfront, I saw this otter who was bringing his oyster dinner to shore. 

I walked back over the bridge to Lady's Island.  The day had warmed up and the view on the Beaufort River was lovely.

 Along the shore, there were many boats that had been tossed ashore during Hurricane Matthew.

Tonight walking back from dinner, the full moon peeked through the trees.

We loved it here in Beaufort.  We will definitely stop here again going up and down the ICW.  Tomorrow, we head north again. 

1/8 Coldest Days on the Loop

The rain had stopped.  The skies were totally clear and sunny.  And it was COLD here in Beaufort, SC. 

Fortunately, the heater on the boat works well.  The heater ran all night and day.  The R value of our windows must be close to zero.  We took the courtesy car to church in the morning.  We were thankful that we didn't have to walk.  The wind speed was still in the high teens and found every crevice.

After lunch, I took a walk in the sun up to Publix.  I was bundled up though.  Beaufort is very hospitable.  Tomorrow morning, we will take off early to head north.  Tomorrow's forecast is sunny but very cold the winds are supposed to be less intense.  We really like running from the fly bridge, so tonight we got out our small heater so it is ready for the morning.  It is forecasted to get down to 21 degrees tonight and tomorrow is supposed to have a high of 45.  Hopefully, the day after tomorrow will warm up.

1/5-1/7 to Beaufort, SC and Kazoos and Steak

Thursday 1/5, we left Thunderbird, GA and headed north to Beaufort, SC.  We saw some skinny water in Fields Cut.  We moved fairly slowly through the remaining marshes.  We passed Parris Island Marine Base.  Parris Island is where the Marine recruits start out.  The water tower there does not say Parris Island.  Instead, it proudly proclaims, "We make Marines". 

But we had our eyes on the weather.  It was predicted to get cold and rainy.  We made dock reservations at Lady's Island Marina.  What a neat place.  We are going to stay until Monday when it will warm up to the high 40s.  The sunset was stunning.

Beaufort, SC is pronounced Bu fort.  The city of Beaufort, NC is pronounced Beau fort.  Yes, they are spelled the same.  We arrived on Thursday.  I got the lay of the land by walking less than a mile to Publix.  The marina folks had lots of recommendations.  Just outside the marina is The Fillin' Station, a bar that serves hamburgers and hot dogs on Wednesday and on Fridays serves a steak dinner for $14.00.  The problem was one has to put in their order for the steak dinner on Wednesday and pay in cash.  I walked in and prevailed on the proprietor by telling him I knew of the special but had just cruised into town.  I was granted a waiver and paid for our steak.  Friday night, we went back for our steak dinners.  When you arrive you go out to the deck overlooking the creek.  Your order is confirmed from the hand written list and he asks how you want your steak.  There are several grills on the deck and the steaks are cooked to order.  Go to the bar and order a drink and a huge perfectly grilled bone in steak, baked potato, and veggie will be brought to your table.  It was perfectly seasoned and I had some left over for lunch on Saturday

Friday morning, the dock master gave me a ride to get my hair done.  When I got back to the dock, John and I took the courtesy car about 5 miles away to the Kazoobie Kazoo factory.  What fun this was.  The Kazoobie Kazoo factory is the only one in the USA that manufactures plastic kazoos.  There was a small museum of kazoo history.  Did you know the kazoo was invented in 1852 and was patented?  Kazoos can make different sounds based on the material they are made from.  Our tour guide, Erin, showed a short film on the history and the injection molding of the plastic.  Then, she put her talents to the test playing all types of instruments based on the kazoo and various materials.  Who knew there was so much to a kazoo.  Then Erin took us to the manufacturing floor, where she explained how the kazoo pieces were put together and imprinted with logos.  At the end of the tour, we selected our colored pieces and assembled our own kazoo.   Here is John playing his red and green kazoo.

All this for the $5.00 price of admission.  This morning, when we skyped with our granddaughters in Houston, we played a duet for them.  Sshhhh, they will be getting kazoos in the mail when we get home to Wilmington.

The cold front came through last night.  The temperature dropped and the wind really kicked up.  It rained hard last night.  Today, it has not warmed up.  The skies are gray.  The rain keeps spitting on and off.  It is just plain raw.  The wind is howling.  Thank heavens, we have decent heat on the boat. It was a good day to get laundry done.  This might be the last laundry load until we get back to Wilmington. 

I can see why so many people love it here in Beaufort.  It is hard to believe we are so close to completing the loop.

Lat  32 degrees 25.19 North
Long 89 degrees 39.50 West

1/4 to Thunderbolt, GA

As John pulled the anchor at Walburg Creek, the dolphins came back to the boat to say good-bye.  We were cruising on a rising tide through the many rivers of Georgia that make up the Intracoastal there.  The currents go back and forth between being with us, so we sog (our speed over ground) at 8.4 or against us, so we sog at 6.6.    We safely cruised through Hell's Gate.  Yes, on all the charts, the area is called Hell's Gate.  We saw at least 9 feet as we passed through the Gate.   The rivers offer so many switchbacks that you can see across the marshes to where you were a half hour ago. 

Most of the day, we were in suburban Savannah.  We docked for the night at Thunderbolt Marine, in the town of Thunderbolt, GA.  This marina services some huge mega yachts.  The dock master told many of them will be in the Mediterranean or the Islands shortly. 

I walked the town of 2600 people in the afternoon.  This sculpture fountain was turned off for the winter but I loved the boys carrying their boat.

The town hall was decorated for the holidays.

Tomorrow, we continue north to Ladies Creek, which is at Beaufort, SC.  We plan to stay there to wait out some forecasted rain and sleet on Saturday.

Lat 32 degrees 1.50 North
Long 81degrees 2.83 West

1/3 Through Little Mud River to Walburg Creek

Morningstar Marina started our day off delivering a newspaper and muffins to the boat.  It made me want to spend another day.  The rain started just as we left the dock.  It was a good thing we got an early start because a navigational error had us taking a trip up the Brunswick River before we turned back and got on the Intracoastal.  We were still on the early side of the rising tide though.  The rains came and went all day.  The skies were very threatening at times.

  This area is full of twists and turns and low water, but the marshes are beautiful.

We had plenty of water going through Little Mud River, but we were glad we were on a rising tide.  For the night, we anchored in Walburg Creek.  It is a really nice anchorage.  It is wide, peaceful, and has good holding.  The dolphins came right up to our boat to say hello.

 After the rainy day, the sunset was spectacular.

Tomorrow, we head through an area known as Hell's Gate.  We plan to go through there on a rising tide, too. 

Lat 31 degrees 40.00 North
Long 81 degrees 9.78 West

1/2 to St. Simons, Georgia

We awoke to a sunny, pleasant day.  We continued to head north from Fernandina.  This is a sad picture of some of the boats that have been pulled out of the water after the hurricane. 

When we came through this area a year and half ago, we were working against the tides.  This year, we are moving with the tides.  In Georgia, this is particularly good to do as the tides can vary by 9-10 feet and there are many shallow areas.  

Shortly after entering Georgia, one passes the Kings Bay Naval Base.  This is home to submarines.   I was disappointed that no submarines were at dock and we did not get an escort past them.  At mile 700, we went past the western most point of the AICW.

The rest of the day was filled with dolphins and sunshine.  Morningstar Marina at Golden Isle on St. Simons Island was our goal for the day.  We docked early, got some fuel, and some rest. 

For dinner, we went to their local restaurant which was excellent.   I had homemade cinnamon and chocolate ice cream for dessert.  Yum. 

Tomorrow, we will go about 50 miles to Walberg Creek to anchor for the night.  We will start out early in the morning to move with the rising tide through some areas notorious for shallow water like one area called Mud Creek.

Lat 31 degrees 9.99 North
Long 81 degrees 24.88 West

1/1 Happy New Year back on the water

Happy New Year to all!!!   This is our first sunset of the year taken in Fernandina Beach.

We have had a busy two weeks.  We needed to have the prop balanced and a seal on the shaft fixed.  Luckily, Huckins Yacht could so the work while we went to Houston and DC for Christmas.  We returned to the boat on 12/30.  It was all fixed and in the water waiting for us.  We provisioned on New Years' Eve.  We barely made it to boaters' midnight to wish each other Happy New Year.  We listened to the fireworks at midnight.  Today, we left the Ortega River to the St. John's River. 

We passed Jacksonville, where we saw this wonderful art done on grain silos along the river.    The title is Unity.  The artist, Guido Van Helton, is from Australia and has done these all over the world.  His work is usually monochromatic.

We thought we would stop at the free dock on Sisters Creek but it was such a nice day and we were cruising along, so we decided to go to Fernandina to anchor.  The Fernandina Marina was ruined during the hurricane.  They had a large mooring field too.  We saw ruined boats and masts on sunken boats.  The Marina hopes to open soon. 

Before we left for Houston and DC, John gave me a set of stainless steel wine glasses that commemorate our loop for our anniversary.  Some of our glass wine glasses have not made the whole loop.  It was a thoughtful gift.

We flew out of Jacksonville for the holidays.  Santa's sleigh was being pulled by dolphins.

Our daughter, Christine, her husband Paul, and children, Anna and Abigail live in Houston.  We made it there before Dec 22 which was Abigail's 5th birthday.  We had a great day feeding ducks, and giraffes.

Anna and Abigail enjoyed the carousel.

Abigail blew our the candles on her cake and was bathing her new baby doll in no time. 

Paul's parents were visiting too.  We all got tickets to ride on the Polar Express.

Everyone had hot chocolate and a cookie.

 Here we are arriving at the North Pole.

Santa gave Anna and Abigail a bell just like in the story.

At Christmas Eve Mass, Anna and Abigail were in the Cherub Choir, that sang hymns before Mass.

The next morning, we got on a plane and flew to DC.  Our daughter, Catherine, her husband Stephen, and children, Madeline, Sarah, and John along with our other daughter, Alicia, had Christmas dinner ready for us.  In April, we will be chartering a sailboat in the BVI for a week with the DC relatives.  Here is John going over provisioning and activities with kids.

Little John is in 1st grade and loves chess club in his after school program.  He beat me.  Here he is in games with John and his dad.

Madeline and Sarah are in 4th grade and seem to be moving into being tweens.

But they are not too big to get whipped cream directly in their mouths from Grandpa. 

We went bowling and did crafts. We made erasers.  Here is John with his moustache eraser.

No wonder we needed a down day when we got back to the boat.

Tomorrow, we say good-bye to Florida and head north to Georgia.

Lat 30 degrees 40.40 North
Long 81 degrees 28.11 West