November 1-10 2016 Cumberland Island, Huckins Boat Yard and on to Wisconsin

I was up at 7AM and did all the little detail stuff we had to get complete before we left.  Stowing extra lines, extra fenders, trash, re-cycling.  And a new one we haven’t done for quite awhile, filling the water tanks.  We aren’t going to be using the watermaker for a few months so I pickled them earlier and we’ll just use dockside water.   We have a bit over 300 gallons of water on board so it should work out fine.

I walked down to pay for our electrical usage and the rest of the time we spent here beyond the 30 days but they hadn’t completed the paperwork yet so Ralph drove me back to dock 15 (its ½ mile from the marina office) to take the electrical readings.  I noted again that the sailboat next to us was plugged into our 30 amp pedestal becasue his pedestal (#9) was burned out.  It's been that way since before Matthew roared through so Ralph and Cindy were working out a discount guess for us.

He returned and we made ready to leave as soon as Mary arrived back with Bubbie.  Brent and Susan, Steven and Sharon all saw us off.

We stopped at the fuel dock where I pumped out our holding tank and wrote a check to pay the bill and then we were off.  The fog, which had rolled in a few hours ago began to lighten but I had the radar on anyway.  

We made it through Jekyll Creek at high tide and across St. Andrew Sound without incident.  There were several boats boats within a few miles of us, all heading south. 

Anchor detail at Cumberland Island

The dock as we passed by to go anchored

We passéd the submarine base at Kings Bay and then anchored at Cumberland Island.  The winds were blowing a good 20mph but our anchor held just fine.

They we are.  Anchored

Law breakers

Nimble dog and limber grandmother easily scaled these barriers

We had to take the dog ashore but when we got close in the dinghy we saw the dock had a few closed signs on it.  But when a dog has to go, a dog has to go!  So we ignored the signs and went ashore anyway.  Tomorrow morning we’ll have to use the other dock which is further away because I suspect there will be park rangers about.

Morning docking opportunity between park ranger visits

The next morning I woke up at 8.  It was a very peaceful night at anchor.  While I got the dinghy ready and running Mary got dressed and rousted the dog.  Off we went to the far landing where I thought the docks were not closed to the public.  How wrong I was.  Closed.  If the signs weren't enough, park rangers were there foiling any attempt at nefarious dog pooping activities.

So back to the original landing where the park ranger boat we had passed on the way to the far dock was moving out of the anchorage.  I idled for a bit to give the boat time to make it its way further out to the main channel and then I quickly pulled up to the vacant, “closed to the public” dock and let Mary and the dog off for their walk of crime.  

I escaped off the dock a few hundred yards and texted friends Dave and Joanne and then returned to pick them up.  No arrests!  No pooping either but what are you going to do?

Back at the boat I started the engines and we hauled the dinghy aboard.  Then we started bringing up the anchor but Mary stepped on the DOWN switch while I was bringing up the anchor by stepping on the UP switch.  The relays had a kanipchen, spurted  momentarily and then ceased relaying.  Our windlass was effectively dead.

So now we had to haul up 120’ feet of 3/8 HT chain and a 70 lb anchor all sitting 25 feet down on the muddy bottom.  And with the winds last evening the anchor and some of the chain were sure to be buried.  

The windlass is equipped with a emergency hand lever which is inserted into the windlass drum.  But the hole was pointed down and inaccessible so I had to take the drum apart and rotate it a bit to get the hole facing up so we could insert the handle.  Once it was back together the handle allowed us to bring up about 4 links per stroke.  We'd still be there till Christmas if we stuck to that method.

Since it was relatively calm out (thankfully!) I got a pair of diving gloves just hauled it all up by hand.  I pulled it up and Mary washed the mud off.  

We had to move the boat ahead a bit to break out the anchor because I couldn’t lift it out of mud and hard sand bottom.  But we finally managed and it only took 20 minutes and a lot of sweat.  I foresee aches and pains tomorrow.

We were about the last boat to leave the anchorage, the last in a line of sailboats.

Passing through Fernandina we saw some evidence of hurricane damage.  The marina docks were in pretty bad shape.  And there were several sailboats up on shore.

Fernandina Beach Marina docks were all closed due to damage

Some of the unfortunate boats that washed ashore at Fernandina

I followed a new route through the south end of the Fernandina curve which is a tricky place because of shoaling.  Went through fine because it was high tide.  We rode the tidal currents pretty much to Sisters Creek where we avoided a tree in the middle of the channel.

The free dock at Sisters Creek.  Note the current

Sisters Creek runs into the St. Johns River where we really lucked out because the tide was still flowing into the river and we could ride the current through Jacksonville.  The current in the river can be 2 knots or more which would effectively gives us speed over the ground of about 6 mph.  Not this time though.   9 mph!

We encountered a large car carrier (a RoRo) and a container ship which I knew about because of the chatter on the VHF where the Jacksonville pilot was talking with an inbound ship and mentioned the ships departing that afternoon.

The St. Johns River and all its shoreside infrastructure appeared to suffer no damage from Matthew.

We had to slow down for the infamous Railroad Bridge in downtown Jacksonville until a train had passed.  The bridge is normally open for boat traffic.  We just happened to catch it when a long train was going through.

Then we cruised through and made the turn into towards Ortega (Jacksonville) into the Ortega River, then through the Ortega River Bridge and onto Huckins Boat Yard where, after some confusion we saw Joey waving his arms at slip 8 on their floating docks.  This was a first for us.  We are usually in the basin near the slipways. Nice though!  Almost like being in a marina.

A first for us being in one of the Huckins Slips

After we were all tied up and connected, we walked to Panera for dinner.   As we left the boatyard, the cats came out to greet us.  Seems they remember me but alas I had no treats to offer them.  Before, they had pointedly ignored Mary while she was taking the dog for a walk.

So tomorrow we talk with PJ and get some estimates for the work to be done. 

I woke up suddenly this morning, a little after 7 and noted a very dark, threatening sky.  I wasn’t sure where we were but was convinced we were anchored somewhere so I leaped out of bed intending on checking to make sure we were still anchored and hadn’t dragged during the night.  It took a few seconds to finally realize we were tied up at a dock and the dark, threatening skies were really the shed in front of us shading out the rising sun.  Oy vey…

I rousted the others up around 9:30 and we took the dog for a short walk before meeting with Tricia and PJ.  Tricia runs the office, a mother of two, ex-military and very good.  PJ of course runs the whole yard.  He is a sweet man and very competent.

The whole boat yard is pretty laid back and the boat owners who are here on their boats are fun bunch.  This is why we like this place so much.

The more suitable, but mundane boat name  

A Chris Craft Roamer was up on jack stands and was here in the yard to have the boat name removed and redone.   Seems the artwork was quite startling and the boat owners received a warning from the local authorities.  Either it gets removed or there will be a substantial fine.  He chose the frugal option.  I didn't see it before they redid the name but was told it was colorfully graphic.  

I talked with Justin and PJ and we settled on being hauled out on Monday.  I want to be here when they take it out so we can be sure what we have to do.  And I want to verify the positions of the thru hulls and transducers.

Later, John came by.  John is the canvas guy from Pelagic.  He’s been doing it for 24 years and I marvel at his experience.  He’ll have estimates for the 5 windows we have to replace and a few things I wanted for the forward facing windows so I don't have to roll them up.

Meanwhile we sit here and enjoy the solitude and relative peace and quiet.  And some time to do a few boat chores too.  No distracting parties any longer.

We did return to Panera again for a bowl of soup (lunch) before going to Publix where I bought the last bag of soft cat treats.  Of the dozen or so cats in the yard about 6 of them recognize me and come out to get a treat or two and be petted.  Of course  I do this after Bubbie has passed by.

Tomorrow it's going to be in the mid 80’s and humid, but then the temps will plummet to 50’s overnight and maybe the low 70’s during the day.  For us it’s a gradual training period to re-acclimate ourselves to less the hospitable climate we will be entering next week.  Wisconsin.

We made it up and had the dog walked by 10 today so went over to the Metro Diner for breakfast.  Yummy food as always.

Stopped at Publix for a few things including cat treats because the yard cats are clamor for food when the surround me.  I'm a sucker I know.

Back on board I did some planning and then fixed the Glendenning indicator light which had burnt out a few months ago.  It wasn’t a simple replacement job.  Had to fabricate a little spacer to hold the light and also fit tightly enough through the hole in the instrument panel.

At least I could still (barely) squeeze through this opening

After that I took my usual walk around the river.   I've been trying to return to at least a partial state of fitness after the months of partying.  So I've begun walking 4-5 miles a day until we leave.

On the return leg I stopped at Publix for more cat treats and then picked up a menu at the Chinese takeout place.  Panera, Publix, the Chinese restaurant and Metro Diner among other stores are located in the Roosevelt Square Mall a few blocks from Huckins.  Nice for us!

Then, while Mary walked the dog, I went back to the Chinese place to pickup the food order we phoned in.  We feasted while watching Fraiser through my phone's internet connection which I got working with our WiFi booster feeding our router which enabled the media player to access Netflix. 

Later I took the garbage out and was swarmed by the cats again.  Jerry, the night watchman here is off on the weekends so the cats don’t get fed.  Sucker that I am I walked back to Publix for ice cream and a few other things including cat food/treats.  As I approached the docks I spread out a whole bunch of food and all 12 cats bounded out of their respective hiding places to eat.

Earlier Mary confirmed we are being pulled out Monday at 8:30 which means we have to complete any prep work by Sunday evening.  Prep work is packing, freezer defrosting, oil changes etc.  Busy weekend ahead.

Today Mary defrosted the fridge in the galley today while I defrosted the chest freezer.   Then we started to tackle our packing chores because it's far easier to lift all the luggage off the boat onto the dock rather than lugging it down 15 stairs of a ramp ladder we have to use when the boat is up on jackstands.  As a start, we got the luggage out from under the forward berth.

Later I finally was able to get our Windows 10 machines connecting to the old HP printer we have on board.  The printer is at least 10 years old but still works fine except it's a balky when trying to get it to connect.  We needed the printer functional because we wanted to have a hard copy of the work we wanted completed while up in Wisconsin.

During a packing lull, we figured out where to stay on this trip north.  We also figured it would be three nights on the road because from prior experience we know we won't be leaving here until later in the afternoon.

All ready for us

I noticed they had positioned the large lift for us tomorrow morning.

It was a cool day, good for walking around the river!

After an unusually late morning walk (like the dog really minds getting up at 10:30) this morning we finished the packing ordeal.  We ended up with everything ready to go so before we move the boat to the slipway we'll off load all the luggage on to the dock.

Ortega River area is a great place to walk

I took a last walk around the Ortega river, and then we went to the Chinese place for dinner again (not bad but not great either) and watched a few Frazier's off the boatyard internet.  

Met and chatted a bit with Jackie, her husband Paul and Sandy, their 9 year old sweetie of a dog.  They too live aboard and are cruising around the same areas we frequent so I'm sure we'll run into them again.

Fed the cats the last of the treats I have.  10 of the 12 now come rushing out to meet me knowing full well I usually have cat treats.

Tomorrow we are up by 7:30 for the haulout at 8:30.

I was up early this morning.  Craig and Joey were moving an old Huckins boat off a tractor trailer (the driver slept in his cab all night in the parking lot.).   I was expected to pick up the Enterprise rental car at 10 so I asked Craig if I had time to run over to pick it up before they were ready for us to move the boat over to the slipway and the lift.  Craig thought sure, no problem.

So I get to Enterprise and its jammed with people.  Finally, after 20 minutes I'm able to get up to the counter and they get me a car.  But as it turns out, they don't have a full size sedan that I had reserved.

No sedan so they wanted me to take this

Instead they wanted to give me a red pickup truck with no tanato cover over the bed so it's wide open.  Not something we could use because we have lots of luggage which would have to be squeezed in the back seat.

And we ended up with this

So I said that won't work and they ended up giving me a brand new Chrysler Pacifica mini van.    Brand new, all sorts of buttons and gadgets.  And less than 3,000 miles.

I got back to Huckins just as they were setting the slings to lift the boat out of the water.  Craig had driven it over but couldn’t start the starboard engine.  Something is amiss with the DC-DC charger I have on that side.  The battery must have been really dead because it didn’t even click it over.

It came out of the water and everything looked fine except the line cutters on the props and the bend in the rudder blade.

Starting to lift

Way up in the air now

We waited around in the office for several minutes. 

Sara and Bubbie 

Mary had taken bubbie up to Sara’s office (she brings her puppy in to the office once in awhile and has a water bowel and a nice little fence in her office) while we confer with the boatyard folks.  Before we left I had taken most of the luggage off the boat and left it on the dock.  It sorta look odd, with a dozen pieces of luggage and boxes sitting on a dock next to an empty slip.

We got everything settled, and had a nice chat with Jackie off the boat next to us.

Moving us to our spot "on the hard"

Someone is impatient to leave

We left around 2:15 and drove to Valdosta,GA where there s a nice La Quinta Inn which is pet friendly meaning it allows pets.  In fact as we were taking luggage in I noticed quite a number of older folks with their pets.  Always older folks with pets.  Must be an age thing, having pets on car trips.

In a doggie hotel preparing for a walk

Once settled in we decided to eat at the nearby Outback Steak House.  I went over to pick up the order but had to wait for a while so had a drink at the bar.  The nice lady working the takeout desk actually brought all the food to me in the bar.

We were on the road by 10 today after a surprisingly free, and quite lavish breakfast.  Since they allow pets, I’m resigned to staying that LaQuinta's for awhile.  Sorry Hamptons.

An unexciting drive.   We've driven this route at least 25 times over the years.  But this was one of the best drives through Nashville.  Hardly any traffic congestion which I don't ever recall experiencing through here.

We stayed at the LaQuinta in Clarksville TN tonight.  Again, a surprisingly nice hotel.

Oh yeah.  Its election night.  We flipped back and forth between election bloviators and crappy TV.  Went to bed before all the excitement but Mary, anxious, and woke to discover the “you gotta be kidding me” results.  Then she woke me up.  The poor dog didn’t sleep well.

We left at a leisurely 10:30 this morning.  It's a 500+ mile drive to Rockford where they have another LaQuinta.  Uneventful if not long drive.   Cheap gas, $1.85 along the way.  Gets pricier in IL.

A nice hotel here in Rockford.  And pretty cheap.   $80.

We just made it to the free but rather sparse breakfast this morning,  and took the dog for a walk in the not so warm temps.  A stop at McDonald's for a supplemental bit of protein and we were on our way.

The toll on I-39 is still $1.90.  I did find a route to bypass it but it winds through Rockford and Beloit for a few miles.  One of these days we’ll take it just to see…

We arrived and Jen and Dave's house around 12:30 and took a few hours to unpack and arrange our junk.  Then it was off to the Piggly Wiggly for stuff, a quick drive by the old neighborhood which is literally resembling an old neighborhood with all the large trees and seasoned landscaping.  Quite a change from when first built the house, the only one in  large empty field.

We returned to the house in time for me to almost surprise Jonah as he got off the school bus.  Back in the house Jack demonstrated his robot before we went to to see Greg and Laura and their kids, Seany and Sammy.  We also mad a stop at The Pharmacy  and Dave the pharmacist, much to my surprise, remembered us.  Well, it did take him a few seconds.  He was our pharmacist when we first moved out here in the early 80's.

We stopped and got some pizza at Poppa Murphy's and went to their house where Laura baked the pizza and we fiddled with the kids.  Sammy is going to be a handful!

October 24-31 2016 Brunswick, GA

We cleaned the dinette cushions today after sleeping until 10AM.    The noon dog walk suited the dog just fine since she isn't an early riser by any stretch of the imagination.  

I also cleaned out the watermaker filters and then worked on the depth sounders.  We have three and all three read differently.  I adjusted the keel offset on the aft stateroom sounder, and the draft setting on the main sounder up on the bridge.  The forward looking sonar / sounder on the lower hem station doesn’t have an setting for this so it is what it is.

These settings are necessary because we are interested in the depth of water below the keel of the boat.  The transducers are located up on the hull, about 2 feet (actually 1' 9") above the lowest part of the boat, the keel.  So the depth reading can be adjusted to subtract the number of feet between the transducer and the bottom of the keel which would display the amount of water between the bottom and the lower edge of the keel.

Went to the cocktail party tonight and had to leave a group that was bashing ObamaCare with a more than a usual spat of venom.  Rather disturbing to hear from some we know rather well.  I had no idea they harbored such virulent opinions.

Ate the lasagna from the pizza place the other tonight.  Yummy!

We were taking the dog for a walk this morning when Sharon stopped over and said they were trying salvage Three Girls, the shrimp boat that had sunk during the hurricane.  So I started walking over but forgot my phone and decided I’d just take the bike over.

Trying to raise Three Girls

 There was a large crane on a barge with two tugs and several tow boat guys.  Divers were securing two slings around and under the boat, then attaching them to the 4 hooks from the crane.  The plan, so the tug boat first mate told me, was to haul it up in increments and get some of the water out to lighten the load.  The crane, or for that matter the boat's keel, would never withstand the weight of the boat with all that water inside.

I stayed awhile but the retreated to our boat and did some cleaning and engine room work.  Cleaned up the fly bridge and then started the engines.  The port engine with the new battery fired right up.  Starboard as usual was a little balky but finally started.  There seems to be an excess of exhaust smoke and I did notice the air filters looked pretty dirt so I’ll have to change those too.

After all that excitement Mary went to have Robin cut her hair.  Price, a bottle of wine.   I rode to the liquor store, the good one out on highway 17 about 5 miles away.  They have a good selection of wine even the Pinot Noir we liked at the Indigo the other night.  But of course they didn’t have any of the Pinot left at the store.  But they did have a nice big bottle of Cabernet which I bought for Robin. 

I stopped at Winn Dixie on the way back and then had to take a convoluted, and long return route to the marina because the roads are still all torn up.  They are actually worse than they were a few weeks ago.  There is heavy sand all over the road which makes riding a bike pretty tough.

Union Street, a tree covered boulevard lined with stately homes 

Walked my usual 3 miles tonight on Union street under cloudy skies and cool temps.  Delightful.

This morning I rode to the NAPA store after trying Autozone near here on Norwich Street.  They didn’t have the air filter I need for Cummins engies.  NAPA has them and all the other fuel and oil filters I need.  But of course none of them are in stock at this store.   So they have to order them and promise they will be there tomorrow morning.  I get to ride 6 miles again to buy them Friday.

One of many similar streets on the way to NAPA

I varnished the swim ladder and the ladder which leads from the sundeck to the swim platform.  Another coat tomorrow.  Mary washed the superstructure.  Weather has been delightfully cool.

I charged the dinghy battery all day.   Then charged the generator battery all tonight.
.

 We went to the cocktail party tonight but didn’t stay long   I dare say we are growing weary of cocktail parties.  I think because we are restless and want to move on.  We’ve been here almost a month now.  And we haven't missed many parties either.

Cutoff Outriggers waiting to be lifted onto the salvage barge

In a remarkable development Mary baked brownies in the oven which now actually stays at 350 degrees for however long we want.  Well, the temperature on the dial reads 350.  The actual temperature of the oven was probably more like 400.  But the brownies came out baked!

Lately I've been taking nightly walks up Union street and I used my phone this time to check the distance.  4 miles.   I didn’t even now.

Floating and ready to be towed somewhere

The shrimp boat that sank, Three Girls, was still sunk when I went by in the morning.  It was floating in the afternoon.  They cut off most of the outriggers I guess to lessen the weight but also to allow it to float more upright.  They must have raised it and pumped the water out in several steps.  Later when I went walking at night it, and the barges, were gone.

Well we varnished again, rented a car in Ortega for next Saturday to take to WI.  We’re still searching for the best place to anchor near Cumberland Island because we have to take the dog to shore and the island is reported to be closed.   Fernandina, the nearby town has no docks we could use for landing a dinghy, at least so we have heard.

Sue and Paul are leaving tomorrow for West Palm beach and then the Bahamas.  Steve, Liz, EM and Bev might get here by the 1^st which means we'll miss them.  There are several other boats leaving on the 1st too.  Everyone is anxious to get south and most of us labor under insurance company rules which prevent travel in Florida before November 1.  Unless you pay an extra few of course.

Rhonda seems to have injured her shoulder while recovering from a bike that was sliding in the sand while shark tooth hunting.  Very odd seeing her walking around with an arm in a sling.   

Helping Steve tomorrow to replace an oil change pump which also acts as pre-lubbing pump.  Neat idea, but not really necessary on these small recreational engines according to most diesel pundits.  But its still pretty cool.  when the ignition is on the pumps run and move oil into the bearings before starting up.

Steven is also taking me to NAPA so I can get my parts tomorrow saving me a 6 mile bike ride.

Short walk tonight and ride to West Marine for a cable reducer so I can solder the two VHF cable connections and get better performance out of the radio.  Of course they didn’t have the reducer I need, so another project on hold.

I called NAPA this morning to verify they had my filters.  They said yes.  Steven is still on to take me along with him since he had to stop at NAPA too.  They had my parts… sort of..

When we got there, the poor lady I had talked with, only ordered 1 of each.  I need two.  She had to re-order another air filter and fuel filter and fervently promised they would there tomorrow morning. At least she did give me a slight discount.

Steven had to stop at Home Depot where I picked up some rosin cored solder just in case I got the chance to solder the radio connections.

After we returned I went over to help Steven install a new oil circ and pre-lube pump.  Simple job.  But as usual it took 4 hours because we had to fabricate another mount for it.  It works except it blew out a 10amp fuse.  With a 30 amp fuse it was fine but the wires were hot so something is amiss.  I suspect the pump is having a hard time pumping cold, 40 weight oil

Later I went to the Friday night cocktail party.  Noted that Paul and Sue on Odyssey had returned because two 8D batteries that power their windlass and bow thrusters.  The batteries were dead.  They were going to be anchoring their way down to Palm Beach but that's not really doable without a working windlass

Good news about Cumberland Island though.  Its now open so we can go ashore which means the dog can poop on land.  At least that's what the National Parks website was proclaiming.

Steve, Liz, Bev and Em are due to arrive a few days after the 1^st.  I sort of want to stay but we have a car rented on the 4^th and have to be in Wisconsin by the 12^th with  possible visit to Destin and Dayton squeezed in there.

Tomorrow we try out the dinghy to be sure it's up to taking the dog to shore.

And in a startling revelation, we aren't leaving Monday.  We are leaving Tuesday.  The first is on Tuesday not Monday, an assumption I leaped too earlier in the week.  Sheez ...

Rode to NAPA and got my fuel filter and other air filter.  Installed the air filters and then went over to help Brent with his canvas.

After we took the dinghy down and Sharon and Eli (their dog) rode with us to the fuel dock and out into the main harbor area before turning back,  We stopped to admire a large sailing catamaran and then talked with Ann and Tim on Ivanhoe before heading back to the boat.  We brought the dinghy back aboard and left the davit connected to the lifting harness so its ready to take it down again.

After we had the dinghy board and secured, I biked to JP liquors to fetch some Italian champagne, Prosecco and a few bottles of red wine.

We had dinner with Steven and Sharon on Once Upon a Time, Brent and Suan's boat.  Wonderful time.  Sharon had this liquor, Mackinac Island Fudge Liqueur which was to die for.  I seem to recall Amarula, a liquor we know about, is similar in taste.  So I need to buy some while we are here.

Worked most of the day.  Moved a VHF antenna to the port side so it wouldn’t keep rubbing on one of the fly bridge windows.

Caulked around the last two aft portside cleats.  And caulked around the galley sink.  And since I had to move a lot of things around I just vacuumed and cleaned there too.

We weren’t up in time to join Brent and Susan at the Wicca ceremony this morning.  Would have been fun.

Matt and Karen, two Aussies, had never participated in a Halloween celebration before.  Carving a pumpkin was a new experience for them,  They studied several How-To’s on YouTube, went and bought a nice pumpkin and some pumpkin cutting knives and set to work.  Matt did most of the labor, several hours worth.  Karen got bored after an hour and went to do laundry.  Fun couple!  And a superb pumpkin.  Wish I had a picture of it.  It was the best at the Halloween party by far.

We are leaving Tuesday so tomorrow is the last day to get ready although we are only going 90 some miles and anchoring out for one night.

But we are ready!

Final departure preparations were on the agenda today.  Basically that meant stowing everything we needed to stow and an engine room check.

I hopped on the bike and rode to the liquor store and Winn Dixie for a few items becasue we are throwing a smallish quick party tonight before the main party at the marina lounge which is termed, "the Big House", by most longer term boaters staying here.

When I returned Mary passed along messages from Steven who needed help with his gas tank, and Brent who needed help with his navigation unit.

So I went over to help Steven with his dinghy gas tank.  He was having difficulty getting it to seat correctly in it's spot under a bow cap.  But we got it in!

Brent ran into a roadblock trying to get his navigation screen back on the main unit.  He had to removed the old one which was attached by security screws.  They come in a common star head configuration but also can be hex head.  Eyesight being what it is we thought hex.  Luckily Brent took a picture and the guy at Lowes correctly deduced the screws were star shaped.  Had to buy a special tool to remove them.

 Brent and I returned just in time for me to greet Steven and Sharon at our boat.   Alas Sharon wanted a gin and tonic but we had no limes so she went back to her boat to get some.  Brent and Susan stopped aboard a few minutes later and we enjoyed a drink and then headed to the Big House for the Halloween Chili Potluck.

Minion as a Halloween boat decoration

Quite a crowd.  And lots of food most of which wasn't chili.  And it was all good!  Love these parties!  

We stayed for a few hours and then made it back to the boat.  Tomorrow, Tuesday, is the first of November.  That is the date our insurance company allows its insurees to enter Florida.  It's a hurricane thing.  Hurricane season generally runs from mid June until late October.

We have everything stowed and ready.  High tide isn't until around 11AM at Jekyll Creek which is where we have to go so we don't have to leave very early.

The creek is only 5 miles away and runs along Jekyll Island.  It's one of those shallow areas best done at higher tide levels.

All we really have to do is pay for the slip which I'll do in the morning before Mary gets up.  Then we're off!

October 16-23, 2016 Brunswick

Mary slept in this morning so I added one last dog walk before relinquishing dog duties back to Mary.

We started unpacking and the de-cluttering the forward stateroom which held all the things I had to remove for the hurricane that I hadn’t had time to put back.

Pickling watermaker membranes 

Today we were going to pickle the watermaker membranes and then tinker with the stove and permanently attach the lower helm station overhead brace.  All we got to was some laundry, and the membrane pickling. Sodium Metabisulfite on hand for pickling.  Pickling basically means flushing them out with this chemical which acts as a preservative and disinfectant.

 Luckily I had just enough

The stuff in the pickling solution

The procedure is pretty simple.  Circulate a solution of sodium metabisulphite (1 cup per gallon) through the membrane for 30 minutes. This pretty much prevents any fungi or bacterial growth which can clog them when left sitting for long periods of time.

Only issue was an old filter.  I had to remove the original canister type filter because it was so corroded.  It took a quick trip to Home Depot for another one.  Then I had to install it and rig up the plumbing, turn on the pump and wait 30 minutes, then clean everything up and reassemble the water maker plumbing with new Teflon cups in the high pressure fittings.

Done.

Tomorrow we do the other things we were supposed to do today.  And I may have to extend the car rental for another day because we have to go shopping too.

The Packers lost so I was told.  I'm living with a disgruntled stockholder.

We took the car and went shopping for a few things and then helped Brent and Susan move some chairs into their salon.

Installed the depth sounder screen and it works wonderfully except I’ll have to go through and re-configure everything again.

Ready for hanging

We hung the rest of the fly bridge windows.  It was warm enough so that they weren't too terribly tight and we could zipper them and anchor the bottoms on the anchoring studs.

Top zipper was missing its little zipper doodad which I found

We also, thanks to my idea, fixed the port side window zipper.  I had all the zipper pieces and we just sort of put it together on the fly and it worked much to the amazement of certain nay sayers.

We went to the nightly cocktail party.  And Rhonda once again texted me a reminder for the Net which I once again slept through.  The Net, a gathering of people on VHF channel 69, is sort of a chat room (the verbal kind) where announcements are made and things can be bought and sold.

This morning we went to Home Depot to buy carpet cement and a few other hardware things.  While I was waiting at Home Dept to talk with the floor experts I chatted with a retired Salvation Army lady who lives on St. Simons Island.  Interesting tales.  She ended up in Waycross,Georgia at a shelter where she sort of volunteered working during the hurricane.  She was at Home Depot getting a few things becasue they were just beginning to let people back on the island.

Crisp newly cleaned curtains

We hung the newly cleaned and pressed curtains I had picked up earlier.  I'm told they a crisp and look much better than before when they were evidently crumpled and lifeless.

Back on the boat I took several hours to scrape off  the old cement on the stairs so we can adhere the new carpet.  I ended up having to dig out an old shop vac we brought from our house in Green Bay to suck up all the dust and debris.

New carpeting!

We ran off to the carpet store to retrieve the two missing squares of carpet they forgot to cut.  Then a quick stop at Walmart before we started on the carpet installation.

We did the steps to our stateroom first.  It went pretty smoothly.  The carpet cement was similar to wallpaper paste.  We laid on the carpet piece and I stapled it in place.  After a few hours it was pretty solidly attached.  Don’t want to think about having to pull it up though.

Cocktail party tonight.  Again.  Guess its becoming a habit.

In  big picture window was this diorama in a big house on a dark street

Walked around Union street after and caught this window display in a large house which made me laugh because it's hard to discern exactly what it is for a few seconds.  Then it hits you.  Quite funny.

Tomorrow we do the rest of the carpets, and more shopping since the car has to go back at 3PM Friday.

Mary was up before me today but kind soul that she is, waited until I was up and ready before taking the dog for a walk.  I ended up talking to Gelbert on a catamaran here who just sold his house and stuff and had his kids enrolled in school here for a bit before they take off for points south.  He’s pretty young too.

Mary put the new carpet pieces out on the bow so they could warm up and be pliable when we install them, but one square blew off into the water.

Fierce garter snake 

So it was back to the carpet store.  As we walked up the path to the front door Mary let out an "Eeeek...", becasue there was a tiny garter snake guarding the door.  We were delayed a few minutes while I urged the snake off to safer ground.  Mary wouldn’t walk across it.

The nice carpet folks cut a new piece and didn’t even charge us. 

We installed the carpet pieces after we returned from the store.   They look fine except for the staircase leading up to the sundeck from the salon.  I stuck it in on upside down so there is a small notch cut out where there shouldn’t be one.  Oh well,  The stuff isn’t coming off anytime soon so we have a spurious notch in our stairway carpet.

We went to Subway to eat so we wouldn’t have to use the stairs.  A convenient excuse with little merit.  The real reason was no one wanted to cook.

Packers seem to be winning, giving a disgruntled stockholder, hope.   And I voted and mailed in the ballot tonight.

I pulled the large salon rug out and washed it with Dawn (per the instructions), using a brush and the hose.  Then sucked most of the water out with a Green Machine.  It was pretty dirty.   I left it up on the fly bridge to dry.

Mary was up by then, so after a dog walk we drove to the CVS located within a Target store and discovered they wouldn’t accept Mary’s CVS coupons.   After several discussions she admitted defeat so made me drive to a stand-alone CVS store near downtown.  There she got most of the stuff she wanted.  It did take several attempts to get our CVS discount number correct but we managed.  Mary was not going to be denied her discounts regardless if we needed the items or not.

 The clerk said we saved $25!

Back at the marina we unloaded the car and then I took it back to Enterprise.  The guy who took me back to the boat was a nice young man intent on discussing politics.  I listened politely and offered a comment or two but what was amazing to me is how he recited “facts” that are known to be fictitious.

Weird.  It points out an emerging idea about "facts" and confirmation bias.  A fact is a fact if it fits your worldview which is confirmed by accessing information from sources which confirm your worldview.  And this phenomenon seems to be observable in most everyone, liberal, conservative, centrist, extremist.  And even Mary and I!!

My driver friend suggested I read the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Breitbart News, before taking on the Drudge Report, World News Daily and Rachel Maddow.   His favorite though is The Guardian.  I check these outlets every day or so but heck.  I'm retired and I wouldn't have time to read all these every day.  He must be a really fast reader.

Back on board again, we moved the couches away from the wall and I cleaned the floors and walls and took a few extra watermaker filters from their storage bags in the cabinets behind the couch.  Then I took the rugs out of our stateroom and cleaned those and while they dried I cleaned the floors in our stateroom and the bed pedestal.  

While Mary was doing laundry I went over to help Brent with his flybridge canvas enclosure.  It’s vinyl and, being only in the low 70’s, made getting it zipped and snapped pretty tough.  Steven came over to help too but we ended up only getting about half of it on.  He discovered some pulled out zippers that need to be repaired too.

We three couples, Steven and Sharon, Brent and Susan, and Mary and I went to Indigos, a funky little restaurant that was to die for, foodwise.  Yummy stuff.  Mary drove over with Steven and Sharon because she had to pick up her laundry while Brent, Susan and I walked the ¾ of a mile to the place.  It was really good.

We declined the invitation to play Farkle afterward and went to bed.  The temps are plummeting into the high 50’s for a few days now meaning I don’t need to run the AC!

Rob texted me saying he and Sue were stopping in tomorrow afternoon and staying the night!  

Mary went off shark tooth hunting at 9 this morning.  I took the opportunity to lay down the salon rug after I cleaned the floor and the walls. Lots of dust!  How can a boat get so dusty?

Mary returned and then Rob called saying he couldn’t contact the marina so I walked down to  see Chris at the office but she was tied up with a boat that was just arriving so I had to wait for a few minutes.

She finally talked with Rob on my cell phone and got everything straightened out.  Meanwhile I told her about the water leak and lack of water pressure on our dock but she knew about those issues already.  It’ll get fixed tomorrow,  so we’re using water in our onboard tanks which is probably a good thing.  It's better to keep water moving a little instead of letting it sit in a tank for weeks.

Later I cleaned out the aft shower sump then dusted off the lower helm station.  So now we have a sparkling interior.  The exterior, not so much.

Rob and Sue talking to Mary and Bubbie

Rob called again and was coming in to dock 10 and the T-head.  So Steven, Sharon and I along with Pete from the marina helped them dock.

Steven and Sharon know Rob and Sue so I invited them along with us to Foxes pizza.  Good stuff.

We had a great time there. 

We tackled a number of boat projects today.  But first we took the dog for her morning walk and went to see Rob and Sue off at the fuel dock.   I had discovered the water appeared to be back on just before.  A few hours later it was off again so we are using what's left in our water tanks

I got the high NIT monitor we use for navigation re-installed up on the flybridge and the nav computer updated.

Then I spent awhile adjusting the oven.  It was always dying when it reaches a certain temperature and the fix was to increase the lowest flame height by adjusting the low flame adjusting screw.  But first I had to drill a hole on the faceplate of stove guessing it would line up with the tiny screw.

Seems I got that part right.  So in theory when I adjust the screw the burner will be lit enough so when the thermostat opens the gas valve the flame will just get higher.   Before it would simply go out and the thermocouple would close the gas valve.  In any case it seems to be working now so we’ll see.

The front face didn't seem to fit too well before adjusting the support

I re-adjusted the lower helm station overhead support column which I had put in about a ¼ inch too high.  Now everything fits much batter.

Next was the Glendinning engine synchronizer power light which burnt out several months ago.  But it turned out to be a fitting with an unreplaceable bulb.  So I had to order a whole new bulb and fitting.

Mary, Steven, Sharon on their boats back deck

A few hours later we went over to Steven and Sharon’s boat for dinner.  Superb soup.  Yummy stuff.  They are fun, both from Michigan.  She's a farmgirl.  And Steven used to sell universities physics lab equipment.  They traded their Krogen42 in for a go fast Dettling 51.

Then it was back to laundry and then bed.  Its dropping down to almost below 60 tonight!  Great sleeping.  

October 1-15 2016 Brunswick Landing and Hurricane Mathew

Well we didn’t take the boat out.   Mary wanted to go shark tooth hunting but that never happened either.  I guess we just didn't have the energy to get it all going.

I did ride to the store for some items we need for the potluck party tomorrow night.

And I spent some time reviewing all the hurricane data, basically tying to figure out if and when and how bad.  Conclusion?   We might have a hurricane here.

So instead of taking the boat out today, we cleaned it up a bit in anticipation of leaving the dock tomorrow morning for fuel and a water maker test.  Mary, sensing boat party, asked Brent and Susan and Rhonda and Bruce to join us so we may have company to witness the water maker making water.  It's tough to orchestrate such exciting events with so many people.

Took a long walk this evening.  There is a big freighter tied up along the commercial pier here being loaded and unloaded by a legion of forklifts.  It's unusual becasue most big freighters are container ships carrying large containers which are lifted off by dockside cranes.  This one was off loading large pallets with shipboard cranes.

I watched a while and then strolled up Union street.  Union street is one of those classic old southern street with big oaks, and moss forming a canopy over large wooden homes.  Quite interesting although is not lit very well.

We went to sea today.  Around 10AM.  My original intent was to take the boat out, test the water maker, fuel up, pump out and nestle back in our slip.  Quick easy few hours on the water.

Brent and Susan expressed a desire to tag along.  Mary had mentioned it to Rhonda and Bruce who also came along.  6 people on a water maker test cruise complete with booze, and food.  

Brent, Susan, Rhonda, Bruce enjoying the water maker cruise 

So we left and fought the incoming tide for a bit.  The only glitch was the portside start battery just couldn’t turn the engine over so I had to parallel it with the port side house batteries.  No big deal.  I was planning on replacing it anyway.

Once out in the harbor area Brent took over driving while I tried to start the generator.  It wouldn’t fire off so so I ended up going below and starting it there.  It's a another battery issue.  So two new batteries are in our future.

Got the water maker running and it preformed flawlessly with the new filters and nice fresh sea water.  70 gallons an hour! 

We went out the inlet and I turned around at the bend in the sea channel.  We were getting pushed around a bit from the beam seas and Susan is prone to seasickness so instead of taking a little run on the ocean we went back in the inlet to the more protected harbor area.

We did go by Driftwood beach where one can anchor but I thought it was too rough and we had no easy means to get to the beach anyway.  So I went right on by.

Once the watermaker had finished I shut the generator down and we cruised back to the marina letting the autopilot do all the steering.

As we entered the East River (where he marina is located) I was about to call Chris, the dock master  but another boat called ahead of us.  They were behind us though about ½ mile.  There was another boat behind them too.

But since we were in the lead I came up to the fuel dock first and pulled far enough ahead so that the other boats were able to tie up.  Poor Chris, listening to the radio chatter feared an argument over fuel.  But all was fine.  We even had a nice chat with the people on the boat behind us.

After fueling (150 gallons) and a pumpout we cruised the ½ mile to our slip where we were met by Cindy who was helping out Chris.  All docked and plugged in, I walked back to the marina office to pay for the fuel with a check to avoid their 4% fee credit card fee.

Then Brent and Susan, with Mary in tow picked me up and we went to the Copper Pig to eat lunch even though it was 2pm and in a few hours there was a big pot luck dinner party to attend.

Bruce and Rhonda declined to join us though.  Drats.

Once back in the marina I did a few chores and cleaned up a bit and sat down to read some articles on engine room ventilation when I apparently fell asleep.  I’m not a napper and rarely snooze during the day.  I blame this on the peach sangria we had the restaurant.

Anyway I woke up as Mary was leaving for the party.  So I showered, made a drink, tightened some dock lines and went over.  By then there was little food left but I wasn’t hungry anyway.  We have learned from experience that anyone not there at precisely the stated time will not be eating.  Cruising folks like their food and when its free, it doesn't last long.

After we returned I took my normal night time walk and ran into Brent and Susan who had gone to see the ship that was loading near the marina.  I went over and watched again for a few minutes then strolled down Union street and its oak trees.

The dog seems to have an aversion to the shower.   It won't come down to the bed until I’m finished showering.  She’ll sit up in the dark salon until I crawl into bed with a laptop before scampering down and then sitting patiently, waiting for me to hoist her up on the bed.  Then she hops right over to Mary and snuggles up and goes right to sleep.

Going to bed used to be so simple …

Mary was up and out the door by 7ish this morning on her quest for sharks teeth with Rhonda.  Meanwhile I woke up a few hours later with the dog tucked in my armpit.  I made coffee and then took a rather reluctant dog for a short walk. 

Worked on some banking when we returned and spent a few hours troubleshooting the starting batteries.  The port side battery tests weak as does the generator battery so its replacement time.  So I pretty much confirmed my earlier suspicions. 

Mary returned with a few sharks teeth and some interesting aromas from the spoil sands they were digging in.

I was going to the store but rain intervened and killed that idea.  We didn’t go to the normal cocktail party tonight either.  Are we slowing down?

In Hurricane Matthew news, it looks like its marching right up the coast.  Forecasts tend to place its track a few hundred miles off the Georgia and Florida coasts but they’re never very accurate this far out.  So since I’ll be alone here I’m preparing for the worst. 

Mary is flying to Dayton Thursday to help take care of Joanne our sister-in-law after her surgery.  I’m driving her to a hotel by the airport Wednesday afternoon.  Then its just Bubbie and me.  And an impending hurricane.  

Most of the focus today was on the hurricane.  It’s traveling north and is forecast to graze the coast here.  Exactly what that means remains to be seen.

Talked a few times with Janet and David on  a DeFever 49 they just acquired 2 weeks ago.  They are planning on doing the Loop.   They are here to clean out the boat and get familiar with it.  Auspicious Loop beginning, with a looming hurricane and all.

Today I removed the port engine and generator batteries.  Tested them again and they are marginal.   Couldn’t find a group 34 AGM marine battery here so have one waiting for me in Jacksonville since we’re going there anyway.  Oddly enough there is a battery store right near the airport.  Convenience at it's best!  I'm also buying a pair of marine terminals so I can use the spare battery I have that doesn't have the typical marine battery threaded posts.

It rained most of the day, shades of things to come I guess.

Brent came over for cocktails this evening.  Susan was off at Weight Watchers meeting while Mary was packing for her hotel stay tomorrow night.  Her flight leaves at 6:30AM Thursday.

I got the car, a brand new Nissan Maxima around 9 and did a little shopping for food stuff heading back to the boat.  The car I reserved was supposed to be a Chevy spark or Nissan Versa.  As usual they didn't have any so they gave me this brand new, once driven, luxury mobile.

When I returned we quickly went to the hurricane meeting the marina was hosting.  Much discussion about how awful things can be.  Here, there are several veterans of hurricanes, tsunamis cyclones, and other fun ocean events, so we aren't lacking in experiences.   We listened to helpful tips, and a few experiences, but all in all, this was more of a camaraderie meeting I think.  Much of the discussion touched on preparedness which most of us have started.

Forecasts are now showing the storm track east of us in the ocean so we shouldn't be seeing hurricane force winds.  But the forecasts are updated every few hours now so who knows.  Currently I've decided not to remove all our enclosures because the sustained winds are forecast to be below 50 mph. 

After we left the meeting I drove Mary to her the Microtel hotel next to the airport.in Jacksonville.  But first we stopped at a battery store so now at least I can start all the engines on board.   

I was expecting heavy traffic on the interstate but it was rather light.  Filled up the car and bought a last few items at the store before getting to the boat and feeding the dog.  Then went to the Wednesday night cocktail party for a few hours, came back and walked the dog.

She was fine until we turned around and then refused to walk so I had to carry her.  Unfortunately I had to walk past a few docks with groups of people who had split off from the main party.  Endured lots of witty remarks and belly laughs as I walked past carrying a dog, leash dangling by my side.  Everyone is a smart ass here. 

She didn’t poop either.  So it was only one treat!

When we returned I installed the batteries and hooked everything up so we should be good to go.

Tomorrow I decided to take the canvas down or leave it up.  Also have to decide to take the car back or keep it and flee inland.  Busy day.  The forecast should be much more solid tomorrow morning too.  Meanwhile we have 8 dock lines out with two spares.  8 fenders out too.  The only worrisome issue is the canvas.  It won't withstand 60 mph sustained winds.

I was jarred awake by from various electronic devices this morning, all announcing a hurricane warning.  5AM.   This wasn’t unexpected so I tried to go back to sleep much to the relief of the dog who's not an early riser.

But curiosity got the best of me so I looked up the latest forecast expecting to see the storm track moving further east.  I wasn't prepared for such a jolting surprise, especially at this hour of the morning.

The predicted track has moved well west putting  Brunswick and Glynn County right in the path.   The wind forecasts have been updated.  60-70 mph sustained winds with gusts to 100mph.  Yikes!

Based on this I will have to remove all the canvas, both flybridge and sundeck.  Crap!  Or, just chance it and leave it all up in hoped it will survive.  But to replace all of it is well into the 5 figure category so prudence is probably the better choice.  I'm sure I won't think that when we're trying to get it all back up.

Canvas, side curtains, windows ... all refer to basically the same thing:  The side, corner and front windows we have on the flybridge and the sundck.  The bimini is the top (roof) on the fly bridge.

Another question is how the sundeck and flybridge will survive all the rain.  We have a couch on the sundeck made from Sunbrella which is fine with all the water.  It's the large amount of stuff under the cushions I worry about.  And then there's the freezer which will be exposed too.  On the flybridge we have a refrigerator and all the navigation instruments.  And of course oodles of stuff under the benches.

I started working on this at 7AM.  Finished getting all the enclosures down by 1 with help from Brent, Craig and Lou!  Quite a chore.  And we had a few cracked windows.   Old vinyl windows like ours are prone to cracking when they are old.  Especially so if they haven't been treated regularly.

Forward stateroom shower

After getting it all down including the large bimini top and all the side curtains (windows) I moved them down to the forward stateroom.   The stateroom is a bit over stuffed and I'm not even finished.

Full forward stateroom

Open Flybridge now.  Nice and airy.

It took several hours to tape up cabinets and other miscellaneous things and to move all the loose stuff below to the bulging forward stateroom.  We now have a totally open sundeck and flybridge.  Considering the 10 inches of rain or more they are calling for, we will have a clean, clean boat.  In fact we had that on our list, to clean all the interior decks.  Matthew may just be taking care of that for us!

Nice airy sundeck with well covered freezer

Lou helping us with Brent's side curtains

I helped Brent take his canvas down and then helped Craig do the same.  Later we manhandled his dinghy around on the dock where he tied it off and filled it with water to weigh it down.  100 mph winds can toss heavy things around.

Most every boat here now has removed all their canvas and tied down dinghies and put out many lines and fenders.  Except Lou, the grizzled old salt.  He left his up because  his take on all this is different than NOAA.  "It won't be nearly that bad", so he says.

Several people I met flew in today to take care of their boats.  The delightful Mat and Karen, two Aussies decided to head to New Orleans for the week after they had secured their boat.  Party on!

Crammed everything from outside, inside

Now the only issue is fleeing.  I extended the car rental until Monday.  My compact car, magically transformed into a gadget laden Nissan Maxima, is quite comfortable which is a benefit because there are no hotel rooms between here and Macon GA.  At least on my last check. 

We leave 7AM tomorrow which should put us at least 100 miles away from the coast when the first effects of Mathew are felt here.  There is a mandatory evacuation for Brunswick so legally, I had to leave anyway.  Although there are a few hearty souls who elected stayed on their boats.

All our fenders and most of our dock lines out

I almost got a hotel room here from a cancellation one of the boaters, Steven, told me about.  He gave his name and said to ask for the room vacated by him.  But when I called the hotel they refused.  Not so much because of the unusual request but because they were closing the hotel and chasing everyone out.  It turns out any hotel in the evacuation zone has to be evacuated.

Anyway we are all packed and in bed early.  Waking the dog up wont be pleasant.

I was up at 5AM today with the hurricane warnings screeching on my phone again.   Took all the stuff I packed up to the car and returned to do some last minute things when Lou knocked on the boat.  He and Ann needed a lift to their hotel.

While he went back to get his stuff ready I completed prepping the boat and took a reluctant Bubbie for a walk. 

Drove Lou and Ann to their hotel which was just outside of the evacuation zone, and then, ignoring Googles repeated attempts to take to me to I-16 towards Macon, headed up GA 341 which is a 4 lane road with only a few towns to travel through.  And it was nearly traffic free.  I-16 evidently was not.

I was figuring on making it to Atlanta where there are thousands of hotel rooms, some of which, must be vacant.  So later in the afternoon nearing Atalanta I stopped at a rest area to walk the dog and then I checked a dozen hotels in the city and 50 miles north.

No vacancies.  Nothing as far north as Knoxville so one hotel clerk told me.  Meanwhile Rob called me and suggested I stay with them near Atlanta.   Since I had no other alternatives I took them up on their kind offer.

The dog and Indy the cat who's peering out her cat door

Rob and "Fritz", aka Bubbie

They live in Lawrenceville which lies southeast of Atlanta.  Their drive way is this patch of gravel in the middle of a handsome subdivision.  The gravel driveway (more like a path) appears to just lead off into the thick woods.  It's hard to see initially and once I was driving on it, fleeting memories of some jungle movie popped in my head.  But after a short distance it emerges on their driveway.

Nice log house with an seperate garage.  It's right in the middle of forested low area.  Very pretty and quiet.

Good to see them again.  Bubbie and Indy, their cat, seemed to stare each other down but nothing came of it.  Bubbie, or Fritz as Rob named her, would sit looking at the cat who would puff up like a balloon and sort of walk away sideways.  Bubbie watched for a few seconds then settled in for a nap.

The TV weather reports are mostly repeats of the same info we've had before where some poor soul is stuck standing out in the wind and rain saying it's really rainy and windy here.

Not sure when I can leave to get back to Brunswick tomorrow.  I'll figure that out tomorrow,

Rob and Sue were up and down most of the night checking for news on Savannah.  Their boat is in Turner Creek a mile or so down the Wilmington River from Thunderbolt, one of our favorite places.

Savannah seem to be getting the worst of the storm.   It sort of lingered near there for a bit before making the turn out towards sea.  12 inches of rain and a large tidal surge which is the dangerous part.  Tides there are normally 6-8 feet there.  Add in another 7 feet of  tidal surge and docks can slip off their pilings and float way taking the boat with them.

In the morning Rob talked with a few people who were around Turner Creek and it sounds like their boat fared well.  I heard from several people in Brunswick and learned that the impact wasn’t nearly as severe as first thought.   So I decided to head back today.

Said our goodbyes and I made the unenviable journey to Brunswick.  Traffic on I-75 between Atlanta and Macon was unreal.  30-40 mph were high lites.  Usually we were doing 15mph.  Luckily  Georgia highway 341 was free of traffic.

But when I got to Brunswick the state troopers weren’t letting people into the city so I tried the next exit north.  Same story.  No entry.   I figured I'd just go to the nearby Rest Area on I-95 and feed the dog and then figure out what to do.

Rest area wasn't too badly damaged

The rest area was littered with branches and large puddles of water.   But I fed the her and we had a nice walk through the debris.  There was no power so it was rather dark but the restrooms were open.  Everything else was locked up.

Sitting in the car I was able to check the Glynn county website.  Cell towers seemed to have survived. The website had posted a notice that stage 4 of the evacuation plan was now taking place.  That’s the part where people can return to the city.  So I headed back out on I-95 and exited at Brunswick again and sure enough the interchange was devoid of troopers.

The city was without power so none of the stoplights worked.  Nor were there any street lights so it was eerily dark.  But there was a traffic.  Not a lot but enough to make the intersections a bit interesting.

I didn't notice much damage but did pass several spots where electrical repair work was taking place. Driving near the marina some of the streets had fallen branches and lots of twigs.  And many areas of standing water.

The marina, when I approached it was dark except for little beams of light from  people wandering around the docks with flashlights.   There didn't appear to be any major damage to the docks or any boats.

The boat floats!

The boat was floating and looked, at least in the dark, just fine.  We had no power but the batteries provided light and kept the fridge going.  The freezer must have dropped off line but I didn’t want to open it up.  After a dog walk in the dark I hopped in bed and the power came on suddenly an hour or so later.  So spent a few minutes getting things turned back on.   No wifi though.  The dog, happy to have a big bed to stretch out on, slept through it all.

I was up early and started in.  The bad discoveries were both wifi boosters were water saturated which meant they don’t work any longer.

We had the leak in the aft stateroom re-appear again so I may need to invest in some more caulking time.

De-lamination from a mysterious leak

We also had mysterious leak in the lower helm station.  You can see where the overhead wood is de-laminating.  But I couldn’t find where the heck its coming from.

No scrubbing required an more.  Thanks Mathew!

Water everywhere.  In the back corner there was at least an inch.

Most of the sundeck couch storage was saturated as were the areas under the benches on the fly bridge so I aired them out and removed some waterlogged items including paper, books and other assorted stuff.

Lots of  junk in the dryer vent

With all the wet towels and rags I went and made another stab at prodding the dryer to greater drying efforts.  Basically I cleaned out the venting as best as I could.

I did blast out the aft section of the sundeck with the hose to clear out some accumulated debris the winds brought in.  Once that was all cleaned out I brought out the plants and several things other things we usually stow, back there.  So now, the forward stateroom is marginally less crammed.

I did discover some pretty big cracks on the radar arch which I’ll have to epoxy.  Not from the hurricane but they must have been pre-existing which would explain a leak in the arch I was having trouble tracking down.   Tomorrow I'm working on the windows, cleaning them all up and then cleaning and re-waterproofing the bimini.  If there’s time tomorrow I’ll get that up first followed by the sundeck windows.

Have to return the car tomorrow but I’m thinking I’ll just keep it until next week because I pick Mary up this coming Saturday.

Jennifer is 41 today.   I have a 41 year old daughter?  How can this be?   I guess I am firmly in the “old” category now.  No escape!

Worked on epoxying several open screw holes and those cracks in the radar arch.  Also the wood pad under the stub mast is rotting so I cleaned it out and lined it with tape before back filling with epoxy.

Cleaning and polishing windows.

Cleaned up all the sundeck windows with cleaner and polish but I may need some help getting them up.  Bubbie's lack of interest in the whole operation pretty much means I'll need to go find someone on the dock. 

Drove to the Winn Dixie and picked a few things out from its barren shelves.  The whole freezer section was cordoned off because, I suspect, they lost power for at least a day and the food spoiled.  And the remaining shelves had very few items, probably becasue of the rush to buy before the storm hit.

My 3 Daughters sunk at the dock

My 3 Daughters, an old shrimp boat tied to the pier at Mary Ross Waterfront Park had sunk.  Sad to see.  It’s been floating there for at least year tied to the dock along the park.

Heard from Jeff in Canada, and called Rob and contacted Curt who was asking about us.

Rhonda texted me a reminder about the Net this morning.  The Net, is a period of time where someone conducts sort of chat session on the VHF radio.  There is news, buy and sell, etc. and can be an entertaining hour or so.  But her message notification didn’t wake me up because 20 minutes after the message was received I woke up with the dog staring at me breathing her fire breath of death. 

After walking her and making arrangements to keep the car for another week, I started on hanging the side curtains on the sundeck.  It took a few minutes to figure out which one went on which side, but eventually I got them all sorted out. 

Needed help with this one hanging there on the right

The only troublesome one was the port side which is a large window set in a sliding track.  I couldn’t do it alone because it require someone to push and pull at the same time.

Craig and a gift for Mary

Luckily Craig, a Minnesotan, a few boats down was still here and he came over and we got it up in a few minutes.  Craig is also the one who crafted a green and gold bracelet thing.  He gives them to Packer fans that he knows.  Nice gesture.  Except he presents them as a sympathy gift.  In other words he only gives them away when the Packers lose to the Vikings.

Now that the windows are all hung the bottom pin snaps need to be, well snapped.  The windows have small fittings which line up with the pins on the boat.  It can be a chore tugging and pulling enough to get the pins into the fittings on the windows.  But waiting for the sun to heat up the windows helps immensely.    There are a few pins I'll have to replace at some point.

I started cleaning up the fly bridge windows and then had to quick mix up some epoxy to fill a few other holes I discovered, most notably in the starboard side.  Epoxy doesn’t really setup well in temps  below 70.  And now the sun was beginning to go down dragging the temps with it.  It may take quite awhile for it to all setup, but I wont be doing any work on them until tomorrow morning.

Gourmet plate snubbed by an unsophisticated dog 

I fed the dog but, having noticed previously she has some difficulty getting her face in the bowel, put the food on a nice new plate.  The dog looked at me, snorted and jumped up on the couch and closed her eyes.  It was our best china too!

So back to the bowel.  She noticed that and immediately jumped down and inhaled the food.  So much for dining sophistication.

I'm also noticing that my charm and witty conversation is brushed aside and goes unnoticed when meeting people on the dog’s walk.  They all brush by me and pet the dog which seems enjoy the attention, however briefly.  I now find myself known as the guy who walks the cute boston terrier and then carries it back to the boat.  Ugh ...

Woke up late.  We didn’t take the dog for a walk until 10:30 which was just fine with here.  Ran into several people, all of which, ignored me and doted on the dog.   Again.

Also ran into Lou who suggested we head back to his boat on dock 8 where he had his stash of dog treats.  He and Ann no longer have a dog so they get their fix by spoiling other dogs.

This morning, the usual 20 minute dog walk took 90 minutes.

I fastened down most of the sundeck windows although there are a few studs I have to replace on the port side which will have to wait until we get to Huckins.

Put up the fly bridge window although they aren't zippered tightly yet.  On the surface it seems rather simple to snap and zip windows in place.  Factor in some age, and very stuff heavy vinyl sewn inside stiff and heavy sunbrella fabric and the simple becomes a nightmare.

Talked a few minutes with Janet who was washing their windows before hanging them back up on their flybridge.  They are getting estimates on new ones. 

Ready to wash the underside of the bimini

I washed the bimini top and discovered a small wear hole which I’ll have to patch tomorrow after I waterproof it.  I’ll try and get it hung tomorrow too.

Went to the store (Publix) and then to Brent and Susans for dinner.  We had a great time.  They have stories of their rooming house which are fascinating.  Bubbie also joined us and rudely napped on their salon floor.

Brent and Susan

Received the new Bullit 2.4 ghz WiFi booster which I couldn’t get working for a time until I checked the ‘transparent bridging” box.  How soon we forget ...

Lou came over this morning and helped me put up the bimini and close some of the rear zippers.  I zipped his hand once but I figured he deserved it because he was the one who left all his enclosures up during the hurricane with no damage.  Not even a pulled out snap.

But before we put it up, I waterproofed both sides.  

Bimini, the hardest piece to install, is up!

After we had the bimini up and Lou left, I hung a few more side curtains (windows).  Approaching full enclosure... almost.

I was able to hang all the rest of the canvas today even with a late start this morning.  The portside flybridge window is missing a zipper doodad though so it won't be able to be zipped tight until I figure out something.

I took about an hour and caulked the stub mast pad so it shouldn't be leaking any more.

Nice chat with Sharon who walked the entire Keys.  She and Steven are on a  Dettling 51.  It's capable of going fast and has down east cruiser appearance.  They were Krogen owners and know Rob and Sue.  Our word is shrinking rapidly!

Fabricated a support post for the drop down overhead at the lower helm station today.  Finished up some caulking and did some banking.  It rained at noon so I just stayed inside and worked on the computer updating everything.  Even copied some routes through several of the shallow areas on the ICW from Bob423, a contributor to Active Captain and very, very good. 

Then after feeding and walking the dog, we climbed in the luxury mobile by 6 to get Mary from Jacksonville.  Her plane arrives around 7 and as we neared the airport, which a little more than an hour from Brunswick, I noticed we were early.  So I pulled into the Florida welcome station, rousted the dog and we took a walk where she deposited her first gift on Florida soil.

Mary called as we were leaving the rest area.  A few minutes later I was sitting in the car waiting for her but she had to stop and get something to eat so I was chased out by the security folks.  But only briefly.  She called saying she was outside but a down aways from where I was parked.  So we parked again and waited, while the security guy starting to walk towards us, hand on his baton.

Luckily she made it before the baton wielding security.  We loaded up her luggage and she jumped in expecting a butt wiggling welcome from the dog.  Not so much.  The dog grunted a bit but retreated back to her napping corner and went to sleep.  Uh Oh ...  Even when Mary tried to love her up there was no real excited reaction.  She seemed more interested in me actually.  This may not bode well.

But we'll see when we get back on the boat.