Stuart at Loggerhead Marina - Last post until 1/7/2013

I've never seen such a parade of clouds as that over the Gulf Stream east of Stuart

I picked up the rental car this morning and spent all day getting it loaded for our trip north. We didn't  bring any warm clothes south with us so there was no problem packing. We laughed this morning when I put on a jacket and cap for taking Hoolie to land when it was all of 68 out (but the wind was blowing...)! I believe the trip north will be a shocker, how soon we forget how cold weather feels!

We have a Honda Accord for our rental which ought to be good on gas mileage and we plan on avoiding New Jersey by going through Pennsylvania, we wanted to see our daughter and her family there anyway. Hopefully there won't be a gas shortage along the way and Dutchess County will also be better in that respect.

One thing we always notice about Stuart is the closeness to the Gulf Stream and the mountains of clouds that seem to cluster over the stream to the east. They are very pretty but I imagine they would offer a rocky ride to those going to the Bahamas. We were looking at the weather but we didn't see any window for going across the Gulf Stream in the near future. Perhaps others would not be so selective but we like a smooth ride.

Our dock at night - home for Fleetwing for 1.5 months

So on Saturday it's up at 5:00 am and then a quick shower, load the final load in the car and then take off. We want to reach Pennsylvania by 3:00 see a concert our daughter plays in so it's a long day Saturday. Meanwhile, thanks for following the blog and I'm taking an intermission until our return to Stuart on January 7, 2013 when the blog will continue. We'll meet up with the Bunches the next day before setting out through the bridges portion of the ICW (25 bridges in two days!) and then onward to Marathon and Key West. Have a good Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas!

Stuart - at Loggerhead Marina at a dock

Ann threaded Fleetwing through here with 15 kt gusts and some current too

The day dawned foggy, you could hardly see the shore. We've never seen this much fog before in Florida but it burned off by 9:00 am or so. The weather is still very warm and comfortable for going south. Ann is much more mobile now but as part of her rehabilitation, she spends much more time at the helm when docking. Today was a step up for her as the wind was gusting to 15 kts and there was a 1 kt current pushing Fleetwing into the dock, plus there were pilings on either side to be avoided! However, Ann handled it well and she's gaining a lot of experience handling the boat in less than ideal conditions. It also lets me handle the lines and do dock work to secure the boat quickly.

ah, Florida sunsets...

We're at the Loggerhead Marina which is a complex adjacent to a condo facility that includes a beautiful pool, exercise room, restaurants and everything else you would expect a marina to have. Their rate for a month's stay went up this year to $12/ft which is higher but not too  bad. The docks are floating concrete which are heavily weighted so they don't bob around in a passing wave. We've found the dockmaster to be attentive and last year he even pumped out the dinghy when it filled with rainwater. We're satisfied with the place and feel secure that Fleetwing will be well taken care of.

A new moon caught just under the bridge

This brings to a close part one of our trip south down the ICW. Now we will take an interlude and go north in a rental car to on Saturday to spend the holidays with our kids before returning in January to continue our trek to Key West.

Vero Beach City Marina - Last Day

Lots of these fellas around!

Today was more of "getting ready to leave the boat for a month" work. We didn't want to leave any dirty clothes on board so the washers and dryers were put to use. Next we filled up on diesel so we can continue our trip south after New Year's Day without having to worry about taking on fuel. By the way, there's been no indication of shortages of fuel along the ICW. The prices haven't changed much at all and there's plenty of it available. Heading north in our rental car we may find a different story. We don't plan on taking the coastal route and will pass through Pennsylvania to visit our daughter and it's just as well that we don't go through New Jersey and southern New York. We've heard that they are still having problems with gasoline supply.

The topics have reached out and taken hold down here. It's 7:30 pm and the temperature is still 74F. I think we'll be in for a shock when we reach home. The southern migration is now in full swing here. There are still empty moorings but not very many and the dinghy dock is now packed! I asked the dockmaster about the crowds and he said they will continue to increase through Thanksgiving before leveling off.

Ann is doing very well so far. She can negotiate the dinghy and do some short walks. Her knee no long hinders her but she's not going to stress it for now. She'll see her knee doctor the first week after we get home to see what her next step is going to be. She sure wants to be fit for walking around Key West!

Thursday morning we're headed for Stuart and our slip at Loggerhead for the next month. I have a rental car reserved and we'll take off on Saturday morning for points north. The part of our ICW cruise to Stuart is like a prelude. It's relatively short compared to our 5 month cruise to Key West and back north in the spring. Enjoy it while you can, I say.

Vero Beach City Marina - at a mooring

Ann has taken up pastels again - it takes a period of calm to move the spirit

You know you're in a tropical weather pattern when you start getting brief, afternoon showers! When we were chartering in the Caribbean several years ago, showers would roll through all hours of the day and night. They would never last very long and they usually didn't contain all that much rain but they were a royal nuisance. You were always getting sprinkled on if you left the hatch open at night - which we did since it was hot at night in the Caribbean. Well, it's also hot here too so we open and shut the hatches several times during the night - but it's nice to have the warm weather!

We're starting to get the boat ready for crew coming on board after we return from the holidays. Don and Liz Bunch plan on joining us for the trip from Stuart to Marathon. Leathen and Ann Mehaffey will join us for the leg from Marathon to Key West. So when we return after the holidays we'll have lots of crew help and someone to share our experiences with. In anticipation, I finally cleaned out the aft cabin from all the accumulation of stuff that always seems more convenient there than where it really belongs. With the redistribution of weight on the boat, we're now ready for visitors.

We're always a fan of sunsets, especially viewed from the cockpit with wine

We'll spend one more day here and do a laundry so everything will be clean upon our return in January. Another instance of "not too exciting but necessary" work. On Thursday it's off to Stuart.

Vero Beach City Marina - at a mooring

It does rain in paradise - but at least you often get a rainbow, even a double one at times

The weather has warmed up considerably. It's 7:30 pm at the moment and the temperature is 74F! It seems that we've transitioned into Caribbean type weather with winds out of the east and the occasional shower in the afternoon, not bad to take.

Vero Beach - note the ramps that disappear into the sand

We took the shuttle today to the beach and had lunch overlooking the surf. With winds out of the east for the last few days, the waves were really coming in, 3 to 4 ft high! The beach is okay after Sandy, I'm not sure if the sand there now was trucked in or it was still there after Sandy. Several of the ramps to the beach level disappeared into the sand.

Road to the beach at Vero

The area by the beach is upscale and the styles are of the type that fit the clientele (the age group cruising their boats). So from that perspective, it fits the customers although there's no Radio Shack or computer store in the group - oh well, they do have benches for the husbands in most stores.

For those who followed my blog last year, your'll recall that I lost the forward light for the dinghy, the red/green bow light. I knew it was on the boat somewhere but when the kids came down in February I placed it "in a safe place" out of the way and then couldn't find it later! I must have looked a dozen times and could never discover its location. When something like that happens you are not permitted to find it until you buy a replacement. So needing a bow light after the time change when I take Hoolie in for his after dinner romp after dark, I bought a new bow light. Not a week later, the old bow light turned up!! (after being missing for 6 months!) So now I know how to find things, just buy a new one and you'll have an automatic spare when the one you lost decides it's okay to now be found. Ann bought a new white straw hat today after her previous one hasn't shown up for the last 4 months - now I fully expect the old one to come out of hiding. Such is life on a boat - but I don't think it would work on crew though...

Vero Beach - at a mooring

Many more full moorings and a lot of doubling up now

The snowbirds have finally caught up with us. When we first arrived the mooring field was barely 1/3 full but now there are less than 5 moorings left with many of the moorings having two boats. We saw boats double up all day but as long as there were available moorings, we didn't put out fenders on our side for another boat. Eventually we may have to do that but for now we are alone.

You can't do this in the wintertime in Canada!

Today my to do list went unheeded. After all it was a Sunday, a day of rest, right? We had our traditional Sunday breakfast of pastries and donuts and with the sun in the cockpit and warm breezes, life is good. The free buses do not run on Sundays so we just stayed on the boat and chilled out. We went for a tour of the area and ran into a Canadian that was down for the winter exploring the area with a kayak. When I was still working in my previous job I took trips to our Canadian manufacturing facility and I'd read in the local newspaper about how deserted the area would be in the wintertime with all the locals leaving for points south! The newspaper author sounded somewhat disgusted with the snowbirds that they didn't "tough it out" up north during the winter months, with phrases like, "not like the old days", etc. Some of our fellow workers who came to Canada in the wintertime for a meeting didn't understand how cold 30 below zero was with a wind (early in the morning). We rescued one of our own who was going to walk the short distance to the Canadian plant to get some air. Ha, we drove along the road and rescued him, he was freezing in his lightweight jacket only good for zero degree weather! You need a parka for weather like that (and not the sissy parkas you find in stores in the US - you need a real parka). All in the past now!

So with thoughts of how it was when I was still working and making trips to Canada in the wintertime, I can appreciate how much the Canadians like to come south for warmer climes in the winter. We see quite a few Canadian flags along our way, we always wave! We'll explore the beach area on Monday and have a lunch with a view of the ocean too, ought to be fun.

Vero Beach City Marina - on a mooring

The scene of the crime, - last year Ann came down with a severe attack from the Live Oak pollen!

Before we started cruising 9 months out of a year, we chartered many times in the Caribbean and I wrote cruising guides for my personal use and that of the crew. I've been asked for copies of the guides from time to time so I thought I would post them in the Pages section of this blog under "Cruising Guides". If you're headed to the Caribbean you might want to check them out. We're avid snorkelers and the guides highlight the best snorkeling sites that we've found, some of which are not in any other snorkeling literature. Feel free to download as you please, they are for your enjoyment. There are also guides for Long Island Sound and Maine where we cruised for three summers.

I am gradually working through my to do list. Today included changing the oil in the outboard motor and also in the lower gear box. Ann provided the "third hand" that's needed for the gear oil change, otherwise with various tie off strings and cut off milk cartons, I got the rest done by myself.

Dean and Kris Hearst - we both know Brian McDonnell, a great mechanic and friend

We got a visit today from Dean and Kris Hearst. They were contacted by our friend Brian McDonnell who runs a  business to keep Volvo engines humming. Brian follows our blog so he made sure that Dean and Kris  knew we were in Vero! They sold their house and their boat is their world now. They are headed for the Caribbean via the Bahamas - sounds like an excellent adventure!

Better days, better sunsets!

The weather is turning warmer and with less wind, just ideal Florida ICW weather. We now plan on leaving Thursday for Stuart so we can make our daughter's house by Sunday late afternoon with a rental car. We always return home up north for the holidays before returning to Stuart and the trip south on our boat.

Vero Beach City Marina - on a mooring

The dinghy dock is in a protected cove off the main mooring area

So why is Vero Beach Marina so popular with cruisers? Well, it has everything that cruisers look for in a stop over. Let's start with the basics: clean showers, heads and plenty of washing machines and dryers at a fair price. On top of that, the marina and the moorings are very protected from all directions, a virtual hurricane hole. There's not much current and very little tide to boot. They offer free WiFi that you can pick up from the moorings and it's pretty fast. They also accept packages mailed to you for your pickup at your leisure. If you want to change your own oil, they have a used oil tank for your use. They also have fixed docks if you don't want to spend your time on a mooring but if you do like the moorings, there's a dinghy dock that's protected from wave and wind action with plenty of room for all.

All aboard - at no charge

Now, if the above is not enough then there's the free bus service that runs every hour. The city of Vero Beach has 11 buses that blanket the Vero Beach area that includes 100's of stores with names like Walmart, Publix (a large supermarket), West Marine, The Home Depot, a large mall type shopping center with dozens of stores and on and on. The supermarket (Publix) is only 10 minutes away via the free bus.

There's quite a repeat crowd here too. Every Thursday night they hold a pot luck dinner for everyone in the marina, it's a great social event and a chance to meet all the cruisers. There are some that spend the entire winter here, they like it so much. Vero Beach has put a lot of thought into how to please the cruisers and keep them in the area (to spend their money). It's nice to be appreciated. For us it's a pleasant stop over on the way to Key West, our ultimate destination for February, it's always been warm there.

Vero - at a mooring

During the height of the southward migraiton - you might find two or three boats on one mooring

We had another day of 20+ kt winds but they were out of the north and we were headed south, a great combination. We put out the headsail and made 8+ kts south (with some help from the iron genny). It's tough to do a pure sail down the ICW with all the turns and bridges along with the narrow fairways.

We came into Vero and found the place empty. About half the moorings were unoccupied. When I went in to pay I asked where everyone was at. The dockmaster said that we were ahead of the crowd. The leading edge of the snowbirds was at St Augustine and headed our way. Most of the reason for that is the limitation written into many boat insurance coverages of not going south of Norfolk until after November 1. For us that would be much too late.

Hi Marty, your boat is fine!

We walked by Marty Silverstein's boat today just to see how it was doing. Marty's a fellow Poughkeepsie Yacht Club member and we always check up on each other's boat when we're in the neighborhood. He's in a very protected slip here at Vero but Marty is up north at the present to return sometime later this year.

20 kt winds but very protected in here on a mooring at Vero

We'll be here for several days catching up on paperwork. Even while cruising, there's always things you've got to do and they've been piling up. However, in this day of internet connections, there's very little you can't do using your laptop and WiFi. I even deposited a check by taking a photo of it using an app from my bank. I didn't even have to send in the physical check, just a photo. Now that's very handy when cruising on a boat.

Eau Gallie Yacht Club - at a dock

Eau Gallie Yacht Club, a few of the many buildings on site

About halfway between Titusville and Vero is Eau Gallie Yacht club. We heard about the place from Marty Silverstein yesterday and after traveling south with winds in the steady 20's and gusts to 28 kts, we decided to take a dock for a calm night and remembered what Marty said and gave a call to Eau Gallie YC. You have to be a member of a yacht club to be taken in and they accepted Poughkeepsie YC so we got a dock.

The flag ceremony was at sunset 

The wind was still blowing like stink with gusts in the high 20's but Ann still took the helm and did very well. The docking wasn't as easy as the last few times but experience is everything in docking and Ann's gaining it under more stressful situations. Once tied up we were secure and with the island to the west, we were shielded from the wave action kicked up by the high winds.

Ann is doing much better - great salad bar at the yacht club

The yacht club is something else. Right out of a picture book of what you think high end yacht clubs ought to look like. The docks are all new with artificial wood and pilings with rubber guards so your boat is not marred. They have two restaurants on site and so we made a reservation on the main one. Tonight they had an honor guard ceremony with the taking down of the flags which we attended. We enjoyed happy hour and a great meal. The entire cost for two including two glasses of wine each, soup, a salad bar, main course, two coffees and a dessert came to $68 including an 18% tip! Now that's a bargain in this day and age.

Yep, that's snow at home! (on our webcam)

Meanwhile, we accessed our camera back home in New York and found that it was snowing! Our driveway was covered by snow from the most recent northeaster. Yet another storm for the beleaguered northeast. I'm glad I'm down here and able to complain about the low temperatures in the 60's! Of course it warms up during the day but it starts out cold (relatively speaking for those in Florida - surprising how quickly you get used to the warm weather).

On Thursday we'll finally reach Vero and probably hang out for a week enjoying the Florida sunshine with temps in the 70's before heading to Stuart and points north. You can really get used to this!

Titusville - Alligator?

Ann often takes photos of clouds to use in her pastels. This is the bridge just north of Titusville.

The front came through in the morning, the same front headed north as the northeaster. It was nothing very big, at least not down here, just a few showers and little wind. It did delay our appointment with the diver due to change our zinc. When he finally arrived he asked whether we had seen the alligator?! It turns out that a 9 ft alligator had been spotted in the marina multiple times and hung out just beyond the next row of docks north of us. Now, we had been told in the past not to let Hoolie go in the water when there're alligators around but no one told us of this one until the diver inquired at the main office.

So after about a 45 minute delay (looking for the alligator?) he decided to dive anyway. He said he wasn't concerned about a 6 ft alligator but a 9 ft specimen was another story. I noticed that he made a very big splash when entering the water feet first from the 5 ft high dock and I wondered about the advice we had heard elsewhere about the sound of a big splash being a dinner call to an alligator. At the time they were talking about dogs splashing about but the diver certainly made a bigger splash than any dog every would.  He finished up quickly and with the old zinc in hand, was up on the dock in no time. His charge for replacing the zinc (I had bought the zinc earlier) was $40. We never saw the alligator the rest of the day.

There are lots of Ospreys about - masts make such good perches! 

With that big of excitement out of the way, we did boat chores the rest of the day and mulled over an anchorage on the way south for Wednesday. There are multiple possibilities but they depend on the details of the wind direction and strength so we'll chose an anchorage when we get a new forecast Wednesday morning.

Titusville - at a dock

Along the ICW - one sunk boat and one "movable" house

We only had 30 miles to go to Titusville so we had a leisurely breakfast and were the last boat out of the anchorage. We found out that we are still ahead of the crowd going south. Mostly, that's due to the insurance that many boaters have (but not us!) that require you to not leave south of Norfolk until November 1. So there's huge wave of boaters that start out on 11/1 flooding the Dismal Swamp Canal and the Virginia Cut and points south. We're still ahead of that wave so far.

The coming northeaster?

The weather is still wonderful but on Tuesday we're due to get some rain, a byproduct of the northeaster headed up the coast. However, the rest of the week looks great with no rain and temps in the low 70's. We are seeing more and more dolphins and a few more manatees along the ICW. The dolphins will drive right under the boat and you'd swear you're going to hit them, but you never do.

Ann came into this dock without touching either piling!

Ann is doing much better so she walked over to the dog park to exercise Hoolie but did use crutches to be sure she didn't aggravate her knee further. We're hoping that by the time we get to Vero she'll be able to get around without the crutches. Meanwhile, she had been handling all the helm duties when bring the boat into a dock. It takes some practice to dock a 42 ft sailboat when coming down a fairway and aiming for a narrow dock between two pilings (compensating for wind and current) - and then stopping the boat before running into the dock. She's doing very well at that! I handle the lines which mostly consists of handing them off to the dockhands. She's done three dockings in the last three days, practice is all it takes. She has always been at the helm when backing out of a slip with me taking the lines in. As always, it's important for both crew members to be able to handle the boat in all situations (e.g, what if one of us is injured - the other has to know how to handle the boat).

We'll be here all day Tuesday and in the morning a diver will come by to replace the zinc on the prop. It shouldn't too far gone since I put a new one on when I hauled the boat in August but in warm waters the zinc goes quickly. The diver will also have his annual ballet with the local manatees, very inquisitive creatures that always come to investigate why a big, black form suddenly appears in their waters! On Wednesday we'll move south again, reaching Vero by Thursday, at least that's the plan.

Rockhouse Creek - at anchor

A morning view of Ft Mantanzas

At a convenient 44 nm south of Ft Mantanzas is Rockhouse Creek where there's room for a dozen or so boats to anchor. We arrived and selected our spot for the night, it's perfectly calm with only the current from the inlet to set us. Ann is doing much better but she's taking it easy after the experience with Savannah and the previous anti-inflammatory drug experience. The drug gave her a false sense of well being that she paid for when the drug stopped. We're hoping for better after this treatment.

Just like on the Hudson River - except it's a lot narrower!

We came south today on a Sunday which meant a lot of traffic on the ICW, complete with barges! This section of the ICW is very straight so all progress you make on the ICW is due south, unlike going through Georgia and South Carolina. We also saw our first manatee today! He was just off the ICW, about 20 feet so he was very close. At our next stop in Titusville, they have a colony of manatees, about 20 that inhabit the marina. I'll have my zinc replaced there and the divers have to run water from a faucet about 50 ft away to distract them from finding the divers (in their all black diving suites) attractive.

Wildlife too

On Monday it's off to Titusville for two days before moving on to Vero.

Ft Matanzas - at anchor

We do get up occasionally for sunrises. The fog developed later in the morning. 

This part of the ICW has many good anchorages for those with dogs. In addition to having a full protected anchorage at Ft Matanzas, you can also take your dog ashore, coming in on a sand beach. It's a national monument and there's no entrance fee for touring the fort or for taking the nature trail which is a wooden walkway over the swamp. This time we didn't take advantage of either offering due to Ann's knee problem which, by the way, is slowly getting better. A sign of that is the dinner tonight which consisted of Chicken Kiev served with garlic potatoes and Harvard beets from Jacques Pepin's cookbook.

The fog sets in

We're anchored right opposite the fort and there's as steady stream of tourists taking the fort tour. They even fired a cannon in one of the re-enactments during a tour. Hoolie didn't even flinch. Our previous dog, Lance, would have been under the table and quivering.

We're actually in the middle of the channel - got to apply a mental correction

After dinner I took Hoolie ashore and walked him in the parking lot but was questioned by a park ranger that was just leaving for the day. The park closes at 5:30 pm and he asked what I was doing there (uh-oh).  Well, I said, I came in from a boat. You used my dock! (he said). No, I replied, I just beached my dinghy. He mentioned something about a $125 fine but he left without saying anything more. Unfriendly sort. In the morning I'll use part of the beach further down, away from the ranger station.

And at the end of the day, a sunset. The square form at left is the fort. Fleetwing has a light on top. 

The good weather continues but we were taken aback this morning when we were greeted with fog! It was like being back in Maine, fog in Florida. It's the first time we ran into that in three years of cruising in Florida. It cleared out by 9:30 and the rest of the day was beautiful. On Sunday we're headed to Rockhouse Creek and the anchorage there. There's a beach nearby for Hoolie and it's a short hop to Titusville, our next stop.

Harbortown Marina - Doctor's Day

At the far left is the passage under the bridge - 6.5 kts of current!!  Wow!

We got the rental car too late to get anything done yesterday so we set out this morning to the nearest Urgent Care center. We found one about 1/2 mile down the road that had good reviews, Doctor's Express, and off we went. Our experience with urgent care centers up and down the ICW has been very positive. We've always seen an MD and the entire staff has always aimed to please their patients. Most of them ask for immediate feedback on how they did via a survey on the web or at an interview upon exit. Sound like a good business practice, I wish my own doctor did the same thing.

Enough of the digressions, Ann saw the doctor today and is starting to feel better. I bought crutches to help her walk which takes pressure off her bad knee. After an X-ray and a blood test for an infection (negative)  we held a consultation with the doctor and decided it was okay to continue since Ann will just remain on the boat for the rest of the trip to Stuart, a good place to rest actually with the warm weather and sunshine during the day on the way. I'll do all the trips to shore with Hoolie so it's recuperation time for Ann - R and R!

It really is a beautiful area

The marina personnel here have been great! The Harbormaster is the one that found a cane from another marina member to loan to Ann for her use until she got the crutches. We returned the cane today and now we're looking to leave tomorrow for Ft Matanzas, south of St Augustine. It's an anchorage that's has a National Monument, a fort once used to protect the southern approach to St Augustine. It's a fun place to explore. The anchorage is not much used due to its reputation of being difficult to get into due to shallows - but we know the way in and never had any trouble. It's very protected and fun to explore.

Harbortown - in Jacksonville at a dock

We crossed in front after being sure the ship was stationary

The winds have finally abated and the temps have returned to the 70's! Now it's pleasant Florida weather like we've remembered from past trips down the ICW. we past across the St John's River and saw a huge naval vessel attended to by six tugboats! I can only guess that the naval boat was going into dry dock and the tugs were there to help it along. It dwarfed the tugs assigned to herd it.

New this year, 7 new docks just for transients

We entered the Pablo Creek part of the ICW this afternoon and found that the current can top 6.5 kts! We happened to hit it as near slack tide but, wow, that's some current - more than Hell Gate at home. We run at 7.3. kts ourselves but we would look pretty slow at peak current!

The Harbortown marina is one of our favorites. This fall they installed 7 new docks just for transients. The charge is only $1/ft and that includes electricity and water. The docks are brand new floating, concrete docks, everything is first rate, a real bargain. However, they do not have showers or restrooms or laundry facilities. But other advantages are the lack of current and 360 protection from winds, nice.

A view of the condos surrounding the marina 

I rented a car this afternoon so I can get Ann to an urgent care center on Friday morning. The car rental agency was short of cars due to hurricane Sandy. Many people were stranded and needed to rent a car one way which Enterprise normally doesn't do due but they relented during the hurricane emergency. So there's a shortage of rental cars in Florida until they can get all the cars returned. I finally got my car later this afternoon so we're all set for Friday. Ann can't walk at all so we'll see what the doctors can do. Meanwhile it's very pleasant just sitting on the back of the boat in the marina with normal Florida weather. We may be here a few days, depends on what they find out about Ann's knee.

Fernandina - at a mooring

Not full at Fernandina

It was supposed to be calmer today but it sure didn't feel like it. We didn't get winds above 25 kts but we had everything below that number and coming out of Jekyll Island there's a turn you have to make out in the inlet to avoid the shallows. It's always a little rough and today was no different.

The police boat didn't like you getting too close!

On the way to Fernandina there is a naval station with a degaussing station for submarines (to get rid of stray magnetism that otherwise could be used to track them). We've passed it many times but we've never seen any submarines. Well today we saw one docked with lots of personnel working on it with a guard boat patrolling nearby. With the black paint, I always thought they looked very menacing.

Fernandina is ready for Christmas!

We were surprised at how empty the marina was. It was only about 1/4 full just counting the face dock, the rest was empty. We took a mooring and when I went in to pay I saw the guy ahead of me run up a $1908 bill for fuel! We didn't need fuel yet so it was $20 for the mooring.

Ann is doing no better with her knee, she can't stand on it at all so we're going to see a doctor at our next stop in Jacksonville, the Harbortown Marina.

Jekyll Island - at anchor

Note the shorts! Not cool to be warmly dressed!

The winds howled all day blowing a steady 20 to 25 kts with gusts to 28 kts. Even in our protected anchorage, it was very bouncy taking Hoolie to shore. Even in less than 1000 ft we had whitecaps on the way to Hoolie's dock. The winds didn't start to calm down until 6:00 pm and now it's "only" 12 kts, seems perfectly calm after today's winds.

There's a dock behind us that we use for Hoolie and all day long we saw groups of kids gathering at the dock, lying down on the deck and using nets to gather something we couldn't see. So when I took Hoolie in I asked the teacher and found they are from the University of Georgia doing a field trip to catalog the creatures of the creek. The students were not dressed for the 25 kts winds and 50 degree temps! Of course, Hoolie was thrilled that so many kids came out to meet just him!

Calm now but it was not like this all day - not even any whitecaps now

It appeared that the high winds we've had for the last two days came from the back end of Sandy and they are finally due to subside some on Wednesday and completely on Thursday for a return to normalcy. With that we're ready to resume our southward trek but the crew is in some distress with a bum knee so we're taking it easy. We have to navigate a potentially rough section of the ICW where we go out an inlet in order to take a turn around a shoal area before turning south again. We'll leave early in the morning to take advantage of the winds due to be less early tomorrow.

Jekyll Island - at anchor

They are no fools! They decided to ride out the high winds on the lee side of the trees!

Yesterday the prediction was for 20 to 30 kt winds but they never materialized. The prediction was the same for today but they hit it on the button this time. We came out of Wahoo River with the wind on the nose and waves coming over the bow for a couple of hours  before we could turn the corner and re-enter the ICW. The dodge got wet, the bimini got wet, but we didn't get wet. I can't imagine going down the ICW without a full enclosure. However, we passed boats doing just that, they were dressed in full wet gear with heavy jackets for the cold wind while we were in golf knit shirts. The full sun does wonders in warming up a full enclosure, just like a greenhouse.

Even with high winds, a nice sunset

So we bounced around a bit but made steady progress along our 50 mile route for the day. We managed to hit Jekyll Island about 30 minutes before low tide. This part of the ICW is one of the worse for shallow water and you really don't want to pass through it at dead low - but we seem to always do just that! The ICW is very narrow through here and at best you have only 7 ft at low tide but today we also had a 20 to 30 kt west wind that was blowing water out of the  bay, lowering water even more. So we approached the section with trepidation and slowed down to creep forward. We did finally make it through, barely.

Now we're at one of our favorite anchorages by the ICW at Jekyll Island. There's no fetch in the anchorage so we're very comfortable and secure. We hear that such is not the case up north with Sandy making landfall. My son in Connecticut has already lost power! It sounds like the storm of the century. Our friends worry about us and hurricanes but we seem to be doing better this time. We'll be using our webcams at home to see how our house is doing (as long as the power lasts).

There's little doubt that we'll be here all day Tuesday too, the winds aren't scheduled to abate until at least Wednesdsay and there's a nasty inlet we have to cross on the way south, not something to do with lots of wind and waves. I hope everyone up north does okay!

Wahoo River - at anchor

We've now run into naturally occurring palm trees!

The prediction was for winds of 15 to 25 kts but they never materialized. We had briefly considered staying for another day at Hinckley of Savannah  but decided to move on anyway. We left around 8:00 am and had a perfect day for traveling. In addition to the high tides which are very nice for the shallow spots, the winds never peaked as predicted and the wave action was minimal.

We are now anchored in the Wahoo River (some name!) and the wind has calmed down to less than 4 kts although the current is running 0.7 kts. In this area of the ICW there are 8 ft tides, almost as in Maine! This place is mud city if you take Hoolie ashore during low tide - which we had to do when we first arrived. So Hoolie got a wipe down, a common occurrence on this boat. This is the first anchorage where we've seen wild palm trees. We are finally getting far enough south to get warm! Temps were in the 70's today but on Monday the highs are only in the 60's.

Wine, warm breezes, great view, a deserted anchorage - what more to want?

We are watching Sandy develop and will be accessing our webcams at the house to see how we do there. We had a willow tree fall during Irene and hopefully no damage will be caused by Sandy, we'll be standing by via webcams.

On Monday we're headed for Jekyll Island and the anchorage there by the boat ramp, a convenient spot for Hoolie relief. It's a 50 mile trip so we'll leave early and hopefully get in before dead low tide at Jekyll - it's very shallow on the approach to the island, one of the worse stretches of the ICW.