May 29 Fernandina Beach

May 29

Another short day on the water.  Just 23 miles and we went pretty slow trying to time the tide and current and weather at the Fernandina dock to our advantage. Mostly just putzing along enjoying the scenic winding marshlands at an easy 1500rpm making anywhere from 6 to 7.5 knots depending on which way and how strong water was flowing.  Temperatures seemed a bit more reasonable today – maybe the humidity was down some.  Still plenty hot and afternoon thunderstorms were expected to arrive by 1:30 so we were glad to be docked by 12:30. Our friends Jamie and Trish on “About Time” are here for the weekend with their friends Scott and Christina onboard.  Russ and Jax on “InQuest” were here too but unfortunately got forced out.  After staying 3 nights they went to extend their reservations and it was a no-go as a boat club had reserved all the remaining spots for the weekend.  Just glad we were able to get in!

Loved the sign on  the windshield "This is not an abandoned boat". 

Sure looked it to me.

Dolphins were in abundance for several portions of the trip.  Seems like it’s been awhile since we’ve passed any interested in us, but these would head towards the boat and even came alongside playing on the bow wave. They wouldn’t stay long – certainly not like the playful ones in the panhandle area that would ride the wave for an extended time. Due to the cloudy brackish water they don’t take as good a picture either.

Dolphins Ahead!!

Checking us out

Jumping on the  bow wave.

Another item in abundance – big biting flies.  Kept us pretty busy with the fly swatter but we prevailed sending many dead ones “to swim with the fishies”.   Just another drawback to traveling this stretch of southern waters during these warmer days. It did make us consider the possible advantages to the next boat having a pilothouse to operate from inside while running the genny and A/C and avoid the heat and bugs.

Our only hold up on the trip was at the Kingsley Creek railroad swing bridge.  There is a high double road bridge for Amelia Island and right after it is the railroad bridge.  It’s normally in the open position. It is not permanently manned and has no radio communication.  As we approach the bridge is open.  But we hear a train whistle blowing and can see through some trees a slow-moving train going from right to left approaching the bridge.  We slow down to figure things out.  Looks like the train has stopped.   So we start moving closer to the bridge.  No signals, no lights no radio chatter – nothing to help us.   As we’re getting closer, we start thinking the bridge may be turning.  But it’s VERY slow if at all.  Possibly an optical illusion??  NO!!  Just as we’re getting even with the bridge fenders we can tell it’s closing.  Quick stop and full reverse out of the tight quarters between the fenders. Thankfully, the current was also in our favor and helped push us away.  I’m just glad the current wasn’t running full in the opposite direction pulling us towards the bridge or it may have gotten very ugly. Train starts up crosses the bridge and it reopens.  As we pass by we see the bridgetender walking down the railroad tracks.  Not even so much as a look back at us as we went by.  Just another little adventure to add to the day.

Approaching the hiway and railroad bridge. 

 Looked good right until we got to the fenders at the hiway bridge

Slammed shut on us 

We made it just fine to Fernandina.  Got all tied up at their nice new very substantial docks.  Huge mega yacht on the outside.  We’re with the small boats on the inside which is fine since any wave action gets taken by the outside boats.  Dockhand tells me Bella Vita has a crew of 22.  It’s a 246’ long 2009 Lurssen with an ice rated hull.  Available for charter in the winter in the Caribbean for just $650,000 per week!!   Good news is you can split that among 12 guests. Dockhand says the initial price was around $180 million.   Got resold to current owner a few years ago for the bargain price of just $80 million.  It has a beam of 44’ so it’s wider than my boat is long.  Draft is 12’6” so no ICW cruising for it. Sure is pretty.

Bella Vita in background.  Those are all 40' boats on the dock for a feel of the scale. 

We are the last boat on that line

May 30

Fernandina Beach is a nice little coastal town.  Lots of history, cute shops, restaurants, etc.  Easy walk up from the marina.  Not quite enough social distancing by everyone walking around town and restaurants seem to be hit or miss regarding implementation of CDC recommends for masks, etc. by the waitstaff.   We just keep trying to do our part in reducing the spread of COVID-19.  Keeping our distance and selecting restaurants cautiously. The first SpaceX astronaut launch to the space station was rescheduled from Wed to today.  We were able to see the contrails from it as it passed overhead between the clouds. Some pretty amazing technology. 

SpaceX

  Had a nice sunset dinner on our dock with Jamie and Trish from “About Time’ and Ed and Kathy from “Vitamin-Sea”.  Funny how you keep running into people.   Ed and Kathy were with our picture taking group on the loop as we passed by the Statue of Liberty. They’ll complete their trip in Beaufort, SC so are also getting close to finishing up the loop.   Beautiful full technicolor sunset presented itself straight off the dock once dinner was over.  Great way to finish the day.

Bubba Gump headed back to the docks

Journey for May 29

May 28 Doctors Lake to Sisters Creek

May 28

A good night at anchor with no rain, wind or lightning.  A light breeze so we opted to sleep with the windows open and forego running the genny and A/C.  Very peaceful and tranquil with the entire cove to ourselves (excepting all the houses along the shoreline).  Only downside was waking up to the back of the boat covered in midges.  They don’t bite – just a nuisance.  They simply won’t fly away when disturbed but resettle anywhere that is out of the wind.  Last time we really had an issue with them was last year during a stop in Edenton, NC.  

Forecast is for another extremely hot day with thunderstorms developing in the afternoon, so we hoisted anchor at 8:30 and headed to the Jacksonville free dock on Sisters Creek.  It’s a pretty good haul most of the way out the St. John’s River and clear on the other side of town where we connect back up to the ICW.   Our timing worked out perfectly as we rode an outgoing current almost all the way.  By the time we hit Sisters Creek it was almost at slack high tide which is perfect for getting in there and tied up.  

The trip back up the St. Johns took us past many of the places we used to boat when we lived here.  Orange Park, under the Fuller Warren bridge (good striper fishing spot), past Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS  Jax – original home of the Blue Angels), by the Ortega and Avondale  sections of town with their older houses  great eateries and many marinas,  under the infamously often broken CSX RR bridge (closed all day Fri and Sat for repairs so we really needed to head out today),  through downtown Jax and under all their bridges, passing by Shad Khans (owner of the Jags) massive yacht “Kismet”, then passing  the 3 Norwegian Cruise Line ships still  tied up just as they were when we came here 2 months ago,  skirting past  the Jags home field (we’ll always call it the Gator Bowl no matter what the sponsor of the day decides to label it), then passing through the more industrial waterfront with container ships, dry docks, and offloading ramps for imported Toyota’s.  Finally turned the corner into Sisters Creek.  Another trawler was cutting across the St. John’s following the ICW ahead of us.  With no one tied up at the free dock he headed in with us right behind him.  All secured by 1PM.  Two sailboats arrived later and tied up behind us. 

RR bridge is at least up for us

Shad Khan's megayacht

Old Jax Landing property ready for redevelopment

Alltell, Everbank, TIAA bank stadium - we call it the Gator Bowl!!

Goodbye Jax

The start of the industrial side of Jax

We never saw these cool murals honoring unity and diversity when coming into town

 as it was on the back side of the silo's

Cruise ships still stuck in port

Container ships in port

As forecast, storms  did develop and  we had several hours of rain and lightning.  No wind at least and the rain did help drop the temperature a bit. Still humid as a sauna though.   

Views at Sisters Creek

Journey for May 28

May 27 FINALLY!! - Back "On the Water" with As You Wish!!

May 27

We are FINALLY back on the move.  The boat got resplashed yesterday after a week plus on the hard getting the gelcoat scratch on the starboard side fixed. That give me time to touch up some bottom paint, repaint the running gear and install new zincs. We headed home for memorial day and then left very early (3AM)  on Tuesday to get back to Lambs  for the 9AM scheduled relaunching. Everything went great. Repairs turned out super but weather was uncooperative.  Rainy and windy so they let us stay tied up at their dock and we used the day to organize the inside, clean up a bit and reprovision supplies. 

Doing a little DIY painting of the  running gear

Much prettier than when we first got hauled

Getting resplashed at Lamb's Yachting center

  Today we finally fired up and started to head out.  Got outside the marina and the railroad bridge we need to pass which is almost always in the up position was down and blocking us in.  Couple guys standing on the bridge checking it out.   Called them on the radio with a reply they would open in 5 minutes.  15 minutes later a train finally went over the bridge and then it went up.  

Stupid train - ain't no getting under that bridge!!

We wanted to check things out - primarily the oil pressure issue and windshield caulking – before leaving Jax. So, decided to head down the St. John’s River and anchor out for the night.   Pulled into an offshoot of the river called Doctors Lake which is where we lived many years ago.   Our old house on the water was still there – new color paint on the outside but the palm tree we had planted on the point was still alive and thriving.  Too shallow to anchor in front of it so headed around the corner to Mill Cove and dropped anchor there just in time for one of those classic Florida afternoon squall lines to pass through.  Not a drop of water through the windshield despite the wind and driving rain.  Weather eventually settled down, so we launched the dingy and took a ride around the cove. 

As You Wish at anchor in Mill Cove

We know this place is loaded with gators.  When we lived here we would walk out on the docks at night and shine a flashlight back towards shore only to see dozens of beady red eyes floating near the shore. In the light of day nothing to see as  they hide in the swamplands behind the waters edge. Dinner on board.  We fired up the grill for the first time in quite awhile. Then settled on the sundeck with my gin and tonic, read some Hemmingway short stories and watched the sun go down. Yup!!  Life is good again!!

Gator country!!

Sunset at Anchor

Journey for May 27

May 16 Monthly Update

May 16

So another month has passed by with the boat still in Jacksonville and us mostly at the "dirt house".  where isolation has been an interesting experience.   We're safely secluded in rural GA on Lake Hartwell.  Pretty much locked ourselves in  here with just a weekly trip to the grocery. Really odd fixing and eating so many home cooked meals after a year of  continuously  eating out along the way on the trip.   After getting tired as well as caught up with binge watching previously  recorded TV programs, we finally started doing some work around here.  Being in the woods we annually need to pressure wash our deck, patio and dock so that wound up taking multiple days since it now had 2 years of grime built up.  But the finished results always look good.  Only problem was one projects always begets another and in this case we decided the current railing around the deck had seen better days and needed replaced.  So,  a little internet research for designs, a long list of supplies and several trips to the local lumber yard and we were ready to start.   Got to say that Martha was a trooper  working alongside  me and keeping me straight as we calculated picket spacing.  Pretty happy with the final result. Certainly a big improvement over the old railings. And of course we've been enjoying our sunsets over the lake.

If you fall off the deck now, it's your own darn fault!

Sunset over Lake Hartwell

Things started opening back up in FL and Lambs Yacht Center was finally ready to take in  our boat to start on some projects so we headed back to Jacksonville.  We had been away from the boat for 6 weeks!!  First order of business was giving it an overdue washing.  The trip from  The Marina at Ortega Landing over to Lamb's was a whole .77 miles  taking us under one hiway bridge and one railroad bridge.  But it felt so good to just fire up the engines and move again.   Even  got to practice our  docking skills  leaving our tight slip  and doing some fancy spinning and backing into a spot at Lamb's.   A leaking front windshield got recaulked and Cummins of Jacksonville came by to diagnose and fix an issue  with incorrect oil pressure readings on the  the electronic  dash readout.  Then things came to a standstill waiting for our turn to get hauled for a bottom cleaning and some cosmetic hull repairs.  Spent the days boatbound so read a few books and  did an awesome jigsaw puzzle that was passed our way via  our friends on InQuest.  Had a good view of the Blue Angels flyover honoring the medical workers in Jacksonville, Got word from Lamb's it would be  a few more days before they could get us hauled so we packed up and headed for home again.  Gave us time to start our downsizing/simplify process.  Ads generated for selling a few cars.  Off site garage was listed with a realtor. 

Puzzled by the puzzle

Working without a picture of the final product but shapes of pieces gave us a clue

Waiting to put the final piece in.

Blue Angels honoring medical staff heroes

 Got the call to come on back for haulout.  So here we are in Jacksonville again.  Boat successfully hauled out.  The scale on their lift is the first one we've used that actually worked.  Found out the boat  weighs 39,000 lbs. with half  full diesel tanks and 1/4 full water tanks.  On the hard  finally and thinking about the final leg of  our loop back to Charleston and crossing our wake.

Getting hauled  out of the water - easy work for Lamb's 100Ton Travelift

Bottom is in pretty good shape - just a little slimy. 

 Running gear covered in barnacles - not so good.

Quick pressure wash cleans right up.  We managed to make the trip without  getting a bow moustache although a little 5 o'clock shadow is starting to show

Blocked up on the hard.  Is that our next boat in the background???  

Martha says "You wish"...note, she didn't say "As You Wish"