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"

April 16 One Year Looperversary and 37th wedding anniversary

April 16

It was one year ago today that we began our Great Loop adventure on our 36th wedding anniversary.  At that time we envisioned "crossing our wake"  back into Charleston on the one  year anniversary of our start and our 37th wedding anniversary.   Due to  purposely extending our  winter layover in Ft. Myers (I definitely could become a snowbird) and then getting caught up in this COVID19 pandemic we're currently back in our "dirt house" self-isolating while "As You Wish" is self-isolating  at a marina on the Ortega River in Jacksonville.

We have been extremely lazy here in isolation.  Sleep in late, watch TV, do a little overdue yardwork,  cook dinner, binge watch more  TV programs recorded in our absence, back to sleep  AND REPEAT!! The "dirt house" on Lake Hartwell  has a very nice westerly facing water view (one of the main reasons we bought it) which this time of year generates spectacular sunsets from the dock.

 It's great seeing the water and the sunsets but it just makes me long to get back to the boat and continue our journey.  After spending a year traveling together  in the tight quarters of the boat we've learned  we really enjoy that lifestyle.   Yes, we've had our share of mishaps - running aground 3 hours into our first day of travel, scraping the  hull of the boat  when  the current on the Hudson River caught us off guard coming into a marina, breaking an aft cabin window on  the boat next to us  when a gust of wind caught us while docking.    But those issues were more than offset  by the solitude and beauty of anchorages  in Canada, the unexpectedly clear blue waters of  Lake Michigan,  the engineering marvel of the Peterborough lift lock and  Big Chute Railway on the Trent Severn Waterway,  passing alongside the Statue of Liberty  and the St. Louis Arch,  and  so many other positive memories.

 After several weeks at home we're getting cabin fever.  It sure feels like time to get  boatbound once again.  Here's hoping things open back up quickly.

March 25 FINIS!! For now anyway.

March 25

It looks like we’ve completed our last cruising day for the time being until this COVID-19 virus passes.  We’ve been seeing  marinas stop taking reservations for transient boaters and in some cases county leaders here in Florida are making decisions to either close marinas, force transient to move on or not allow them to take anyone new in.  We could probably continue our side trip down the St. John’s River since we would primarily be anchoring out but then we might not be able to find a place to isolate once when we got back on the coast.  The prudent thing for us to do is just park the boat.   We have a 1-2 month reservation at The Marina at Ortega Landing.  It comes highly recommended from Loopers who either wintered here or stayed longer term.  Very nice club atmosphere with concrete floating docks, a pool and hot tub, grills, clubhouse, captains lounge, monthly activities, walking distance to shops, etc.  Of course, most of the social activities are cancelled, all the bars and breweries are closed, and restaurants are carry-out only. But the pool is still open, and their bathrooms are modern and spotless.   Glad we made reservations when we did and locked in a slip.  

Clubhouse, pool, bathroom just steps away from our slip

We get a nice view down the Ortega River from our sundeck

 The trip here from the free dock in Sister’s Creek was uneventful.  Odd weather – overcast to start, then hazy-foggy, then cleared and sunny.  We caught the incoming tide which gave us a nice speed boost.  The trip down the St. John’s River took us past the commercial shipyards, past downtown and then into the Ortega River.   We stopped at the Arlington Marina for some fuel as they have the best price around.  Took on 100 gallons just to   be sure we had enough in case we needed to make a quick run.  With the current still flowing I was hoping their fuel dock was on an outside tie along dock.  It was not to be. Those pumps were out of commission and we needed to go to an inside dock running perpendicular to the current.  We got in and tied up OK. Despite being nervous at departure due to tight quarters maneuvering, we backed up, spun it around, and got back into the river proper without issue or making a spectacle of ourselves.   We did have one big freighter headed outbound meet us loaded with containers.  Naturally we had to meet in one of the turns on the river with dredges working in the main channel. We headed as close to shore as possible and stayed out the way. 

Making way for the Zim Rotterdam

Another interesting thing was seeing 3 cruise ships tied up along the way. Two Norwegian cruise lines and one from Carnival.  Jacksonville occasionally has cruise ship departures but they’re not routine, so these were simply being stored due to the virus. 

Norwegian Sky, Norwegian Pearl and Carnival Ecstacy were all in waiting mode 

We also got to see Shad Khan’s newest superyacht “Kismet”. He’s the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars.  The yacht was docked with five crew members harnessed and tethered to the superstructure busily washing it off.  She’s 312’ long, bought for $200 million in 2018, operating costs of  $15-$20 million annually, crew of 28, charters out for $1.2 million PER WEEK.  

Shad Kahn's superyacht.  Scale the size of it by locating the 2 guys on superstructure cleaning. 

Downtown Jacksonville had a few new buildings since the last time we traveled the waterfront.Noticeably absent was “The Landing” – their waterfront centerpiece building of shops, bars, restaurants, etc.  Just never financially viable.  Tore it down with undetermined plans as yet for the property.

Heading towards downtown Jax.

Downtown waterfront - minus "The Lamding"

Just a final thought.   We’re back in familiar territory.   We brought our old boats down to here from the upper Chesapeake Bay years ago. All of the ICW from here back to our Loop starting point in Charleston are waters we’ve previously traveled.  I guess technically we could say we’ve completed the Loop. We certainly have covered all the required waterways at various times.  However, it just doesn’t seem fitting to say we’ve “Done the Loop” if we haven’t done it all aboard “As You Wish”.  She’s been a great boat and a trouble-free partner on this adventure.  Our insurance carrier stipulates we must be above 31 degrees north (the FL/GA border) by the start of hurricane season on June 1 so plans are still to head for Charleston at some point.  For now we’ll head back to the “dirt house” and take care of some much neglected yardwork and chores.  But check back periodically and see what we’re up to.  At some point we’ll be back aboard, fire up the engine and once again cast off the lines.

Journey for March 24

All the stops on our Loop