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.

September 16-30 to Brunswick Landing

We were up at 6AM.  It's not real bright at this time.  Dark might be a better description.

Mary took Bubbie for her morning walk and I cut over all the boat systems so we could leave Thunderbolt.  And we did, following out the Fleming 55.  At 6:20.

Alas, Hal didn't make it in time.  This was a donutless departure.

Our Nav computer, an old HP running XP blue screened just as we left the dock.  Subsequent reboots were causing the mouse to go bonkers, but the fourth one seemed to work and everything remained stable.  Meanwhile we were slowly crawling up the channel in the dark using a tablet to navigate.

Passing by Isle of Hope Marina on the Skidaway River

Once the navigation computer was back on line we boogied on down the Wilmington River and then, with a turn to Starboard, the Skidaway River.  A surprisingly strong ebbing tidal current was giving us a nice speed boost.

Sometime later we approached Hells Gate and buzzed right through with 10 feet of water.  Our ETA to Walburg Creek, as calculated by the navigation software,  was now 11:30.  The stronger than expected tidal flow pushed us at well over 1.5 miles per hour faster than I had figured

So we debated about just going another 30 miles to Duplin River which would have been our second nights stop anyway.  This idea would get us into Brunswick a day earlier.

It took moments and the question was settled.  We were going to Duplin.

The Duplin River flows into Doboy Sound.  The entrance to the river has a nice ferry dock on Sapelo Island where we can take easily the dog.  The island borders Sapelo Sound to the north.

With our speed boost we should be arriving  before 4PM giving us plenty of daylight.  The river is plenty wide and can accommodate many boats.  However it does have some strong tidal currents which will cause us to swing 180 degrees when the tide changes.

But ….

As we began making the turn into the Duplin River a Georgia State Marine Patrol boat hailed us on the radio and wanted to board us.  I kept replying back but they couldn’t hear me for some reason so I just went on on the side deck and talked to them. 

They pulled along side and requested we provide ID,  a drivers license.  And then asked if we had any firearms.

After we said no, the boat pulled up close and the two coasties hopped on board.

I had to drive the boat and while I was occupied doing that, Mary handled the official stuff with aplomb just like before.   She did present the Coast Guard Form given to us when we were boarded at Ft. Pierce 3 months ago.  They took it and basically repeated the same check as they did in Ft. Pierce.  Meanwhile I was making a wide circle in Doboy Sound to try and keep close to the Duplin River entrance.

Great guys.  Cheerful, professional.   And cute, so say some.

Anchored in Duplin River looking out towards Doboy Sound and the ferry dock

After they left we went about a mile up the river guessing it would be calmer there in these 15 knot North winds.  Maybe, but in any case the anchor stuck fast and we enjoyed cocktails in a bug free sundeck because the wind was keeping the little critters away from us.  I had my electric zapper just in case.

Almost sunset overlooking Doboy Sound

We took the dinghy down after feeding the dog.  She needs to, ah, percolate a bit before we take her ashore.  The ferry dock where we can tie up is about ¾ of a mile down river.  In our dinghy, its about a 10 minute trip.  I had forgotten how fast the current rips through here.  It made docking the dinghy a less than smooth experience but no harm done.

In search of "the" spot up the road 

Mary and the dog walked up the road leading to the buildings of the university research station here.  Mission completed in 15 minutes and we were back aboard with the dinghy secured within an hour.

As the sunset I was still waiting to see if the rising tide will bring clearer water in here so I can run the water maker.  Probably going to have to guess at this.  But I have new filters installed so if its crappy water they should take care of it for the most part.  

We have to be at Little Mud River (about 7 miles away) tomorrow around 9:30AM.  High tide is basically a necessity for traversing this little stretch of the ICW.

Ferry dock and the ferry well before it's 7AM departure

We ran the water maker tonight but after an hour or so it began making horrible noise so I had to shut it down.  I’m thinking it was clogged filters because the water here was pretty laden with stuff and I'd venture to guess the tide didn't flush it out.  Oh well.  We’ll be in Brunswick tomorrow and for all of this month and October so I have time to fix it.

Even so, we were able to get the water tanks close to full.

Not being morning people, we staggered around at 7AM but had the dinghy loaded and running by 7:15 and tied up at the ferry dock 10 minutes after that. 

Mary and Bubbie wandered off looking for a suitable spot while I talked with this guy on the dock who was a ferry boat captain here for 30 some years.  Interesting guy.  His wife still works for the university research station on the island.  He said the ferry leaves every week day at 7AM to take the resident kids to school in  Crescent, about 7 miles away. 

Us anchored in the distance taken from the ferry dock

There a several families that live here.   Blackbeard island lies along the north eastern edge of Sapelo Island and really isn’t an island but more of a spit of land.  The island designation must have been from years ago when Blackbeard Creek was more than a creek.  At least that's what I was told.

Mary and Bubbie soon returned and we zipped back to the boat.  I started the engines and we hauled the dinghy aboard and went out the river into Doboy Sound and then re-joined the ICW. 

Our target of making Little Mud River by 9:30 to take advantage of the tide was a little off.  The flood tide was pushing us along at 9mph so we went through there 30 minutes before high tide which worked out just fine but left me wondering where my math skills went.

After that excitement it was a slow cruise down the ICW in the typical 90 degree heat although the sun wasn’t out all the time so it wasn't over a 100 on the fly bridge this time.

We cruised by St. Simons Island and came into Brunswick, went under the big bridge and made the turn into the East River to the marina.

I called them on the radio and Chris, the dockmaster today, put us on dock 15 which is the last main dock up the river.  It's where I wanted to be.   Very protected up there and near a bathroom too.  We're going into slip 4.

Making our way to dock 15 way off in the distance on the right

Rhonda was there with Chris and a few other people we remembered but couldn't name.  With all those people we had a hassle free docking experience.  I put the bow in first because we shared the space with a small sailboat and there was enough wind and current to make backing in an ify proposition.  We could have done it I'm sure, but in a few days we'll be going out again to test the water maker so no need to try it now.

We of course had to chit chat about the latest news, most specifically Sherry, the previous dockmaster who was let go.  Sherry was iconic.  Her presence pretty much set the tone here so we'll see if anything has changed.

It took us a bit of time to hook everything up and walk down to see Chris.  She had all our paperwork completed but I had forgotten about the 4% fee for credit card transactions so we agreed I'd return in a day or so and write them a check.

They also seem to have added an environmental fee which is nothing state mandated or even state suggested.  Not much information as to what this is intended for, exactly.

I’ve taken to running the engine room blowers for an hour or so after we arrive somewhere and it seems to greatly reduce the engine room temperatures especially during these sweltering days with the burning sun and temps up in the 90’s.  In this case it did its job. 

We met Matt and Karen on a Lagoon 43 built in France and sailed over by here by them.  They are on the end of the dock, two slips away from us.  They're and are Aussies and immediately gave me the impression of being fun.

We also noticed Tim and Anne on Ivanhoe who we met last year.  Chris mentioned to me there is a boat next to them with a lady who seems to have dementia.  I'm pretty sure I ran into her as we were walking back to the boat from the marina office.  She was trying to get into the mens room so I pointed her to the ladies room and the let her in.

Brent and Susan meeting the dog for the first time

Pizza at Foxes

Went out to eat at Fox's Pizza with Brent and Susan.  Brent and Susan now operate a rooming house, from the house they bought last year.  They refurbished it but realizing they would have plenty of room, decided to make it into a rooming house.  They furnished it and then did a few things to make it livable including A/C, free wireless etc.  So now it's the premiere rooming house in Brunswick.

Fox pizza as good as always.

Tomorrow is Sunday and Packer game day so Mary is getting all primed.  Did I mention Brent is from Minnesota?

Oddly I had to reset the port battery charger tonight.  According to the display, it wasn’t charging for some reason.  I see phone calls in my future Monday.

It was hot today so we stayed in the boat a good portion of it.  I was cleaning up email and log files and Mary was reading and researching door screens and dog food.

I eventually took a computer break and cleaned out the watermaker filters and sea strainer hoping the watermaker problem was due to clogged filters.   It doesn't seem plausible we would have had  a sudden pump failure.

Got our cadillac of bikes down and after greasing it up and inflating the tires, rode to the Winn Dixie and made a stop at West Marine where I talked briefly with a guy I met last time we were here.  Forgot his name.  But he forgot mine too.

Winn Dixie is the same but awful pricey.  Cant wait to get to Walmart!

Packer game is tonight so Mary started the laundry early (the machines are free here) and I took it all back to the boat when game started.  She stayed in the lounge with other football devotees and the small cadre of Packer fans all resplendent in their green and gold.

Looks like some rain for the next few days.

They lost yesterday.  The Packers that is.

We stayed aboard, Mary reading and I cleaning up emails and beginning the long ordeal of ordering spare parts I have to install while we are here until November.  Speaking of November we, and Once Upon a Time (Brent and Susan's boat) are planning to depart here on the same day for the same destination, Huckins boat yard.  They are having a bottom job.  So are we but also some additional work.  We’ll have that completed while we are in WI for medical stuff so we can returned to a fixed and shiny clean boat.

I rode to Winn Dixie again.  The roads on my usual route(s) are all torn up.  They are covered with a thick layer of sand and if you’ve ever ridded a thin wheeled bike through sand you may appreciate the difficulty.  Not fun and there is no other easy access to the store.  Even my coveted short cut is all torn up.  Ugh …

First cocktail party (on the left, Mary talking to Bruce)

First cocktail party since we arrived.  Old friends were there and the wonderful camaraderie still strong as before.  We get to experience this for a month a half!  

Yesterday we didn’t do much at all

Today though, I received answers from the battery charger company and the stove company.  Basically the new battery charger is toast and the stove has to wait on a tech guy returning from vacation next week.

No word yet from the water maker people.

We walked up and paid for the slip today.  Ralph and Chris are the dockmasters.  Cindy is the same person handling the office.  Sherry, the previous dockmaster, now works managing a gas station. She will be missed.

The owner of the marina here, is not quite "right".  Little things like the environmental fee and general attitude send red flags up.  Well to me anyway.  They certainly displayed their naivety by not fixing the Sherry situation since she was a prime reason many of us came here.

Bob, had a 88th birthday party.  He’s an old electronics guy from the 50’s … think vacuum tubes and such.  He married a younger women 28 years ago and bought a Westsail 32 hull.  And completed the rest of the boat himself.

They then sailed off to Europe and spent 16 year over there cruising as far north as Norway and into the Mediterranean spending time in Africa, Israel, Greece, Italy Turkey and all the other spots over there.  He's got some stories!  And for 88 he’s in superb shape.  She's about 15 years younger.

Under intense pressure from certain crew mates I agreed to hook up the cable so we can have 38 cable channels!  We still have over the air TV and the Satellite too.  

Today I was aboard most of the time dealing with the battery charger problem, watermaker problem and the oven issue.  Many email exchanges and several phone calls later the battery charger has been declared malfunctioning and will be replaced with a new unit.

The oven was finally declared dysfunctional because of a design flaw.  The engineer I was talking with, sent me a long, very detailed email with directions on the only solution they know of short of replacing the whole unit.  As it turns out the company, Seward, went out of business shortly after we bought the stove.  And in an interesting twist of fate he said ours was the last production run before they closed their doors.  Are we lucky or what.

The fix involves drilling a ¾ inch hole in the face plate of the stove near the oven control valve.   This hole would ideally line up with the low flame bleed screw which I need to turn slightly to increase the oven flame so it can stay lit when the thermostat decreases the flame on the main burner.    Getting the hole drilled in the correct spot is all luck and guess work.

This screw controls the size of the flame when the main burner is shut off, or more precisely, turned down very low.  The low main burner flame acts like an OPL (Operating Pilot Light) so the main burner can fully re-light when the temp falls below a set value.   Most ovens employ a pilot light for such purposes.  But not ours!

The water maker remains in limbo since they haven’t responded to any of my emails.  It could be any number of things from malfunctioning generator voltage regulator, faulty pressure control valve, failed pump seals, failing motor windings …. and the list goes on.  But I still think its a clogged filter problem.

Mary decided we needed to have our curtains cleaned so we took all those down today and she and Susan ran the over to the dry cleaners.  She also went carpet hunting and brought back samples.

More gauges, meters and brightly colored displays

I finished installing the remote battery charger displays and the engine temp sensor, another easy job that morphed into a four hour affair.

And I hooked up the cable so now Mary has a plethora of entertainment options.  Regular over the air digital TV, Cable TV, Satellite TV and WiFi sourced stuff like NetFlix.  It’s lucky I purchased a new TV a few years ago.

Bubbie continues to acclimate.  The normal cocktail parties schedule is a three days a week but we are slowing down and only managing 2 a week.  Probably because we have to care for a dog?

Cuba is beginning to look less likely this year.  I’m reading some posts which don’t paint such a rosy picture. 

We went out to dinner with Brent and Susan, the The Copper Pig.  A fresh produce, seafood and meat store.  With a restaurant attached which was pretty good.  Pulled pork  Yumm.

Brent and I were going to play Euchre with Bruce and Ronda among others but at the restaurant they had live alligators which you could feed from a pole that had a 10 foot string attached.  On the end was a horse devore fork to which you attached cut up hot dog pieces.  Then you dangle the hot dog by the gators.

Who could resist.

Mary and Brent feeding the gators

I hit one on the head a few times.  They would quickly waddle up on the shore and try and grab at it but need to turn their head sideway in order to grasp it.  Quite fun in a Wisconsin Dells sort of way.  The gators were only 3-4 feet long at the large end.

We missed the card game tonight but there are always Euchre games going on.

Otherwise we didn’t go out in the boat but stayed in pretty much most of the day debating carpet choices.  Brent and Susan picked out a reddish hue carpet while Mary was set on the ever popular tan … ugh.  I was pushing for one with a flecks of red and gray.

Carpet samples

We are going to have to lay this ourselves and its rather easy.  Just contact cement and a few staples.  Having said that, I'm figuring it'll be a two day process.

We overslept until 10 this morning.

Brent and Susan wanted to go to St. Simons Island and the beach.  And we were going to leave early.  Well, that didn't happen so the modified the schedule required us to meet them at their car at 12:30.

Beach at St. Simons

Beach is wonderful.  It was windy though, windy enough to blow over our heavy poled umbrella with the separate heavy duty screw anchor right on top of Brent.  Meanwhile, their beach umbrella, with it's skinny little pole, stayed upright!

We walked the beach and came upon a little boy trying to catch a scurrying crab.  His mother asked for our help because he wasn’t having much success and was in tears.  So we did, chasing a smirking little crab in and out of the heavy surf for a few minutes.  We never did catch him but the kids seemed to have it corned so we left them on their own.

We eventually returned to our beach spot which was being threatened by the rising tide.  Mary commanded everyone to pack up and leave for lunch.  So, of course, we did.

We drove back into the little town's main street and the first place we tried was closed so we ended up  a few blocks away at the Mescaline Mushroom.    A neat place with TV’s and outdoor seating under a huge moss covered oak tree.

At the Mellow Mushroom

NO, no.  It's the Mellow Mushroom, not the Mescaline Mushroom!

Really good mushroom soup but the pretzels I ordered was a surprise.  Instead of good old salt and mustard it was drenched in honey and cinnamon.

Mary and I had sangrias.  Her's red, mine white. Quite tasty.

Then we walked to the village pier and saw the damaged dock where, so said a couple we met, a shrimp boat tied up to the dock to sell shrimp, apparently illegally.  A coast guard boat came in and the shrimp boat tied to leave but forgot they had one of their outriggers deployed across the dock and it tore up the railings pretty good.

Susan talking to the crafts expert

After that Mary and Susan met a women who was collecting shells (with their respective creature inhabitants intact) from the fisherman on the pier using casting nets for catching bait fish.  She evidently makes crafty things from them too.  There was a long discussion on craft technicalities. 

We drove back to the marina where we parted ways, they to their boat to relax, us to tackle taking up the carpet stairs. 

Well, that was my job.  Its was laid down with contact cement and the backing of the carpet was turning to powder so I hauled out the shop vac we havn’t used in 4 years and pulled the carpet off and sucked up the crumbled dusty residue.  And then scrapped what I could of the residue still left on the treads.  Lots of fun.

Old carpet removed.  Tape covers old stair light holes removed years ago

Tomorrow we take the carpet samples back with the old carpet so they can cut the new stuff to size.

Should be easy except we haven’t decided on a color yet.  Susan still thinks the reddish hue is great. Mary is for now eyeing a camel color and I’m holding out for a multi-colored gray.  Only time will tell.

Arnold Palmer died today too.  But the Packers won  

Debates are tonight.  Well, my characterisation  would be more  Reality TV show complete with insults and scowling gestures amidst finger pointed accusations.   There's enough bellowing noise in the world without this so I'm seeking quieter environment.

Susan kindly took us to Publix and then the carpet store A1-carpets today.  They still have their mini van thank goodness.

Nice people at A1 Carpets.   We picked out a color and a style (marine backing) and they will cut it for us.  Mary and I will install it with contact cement which is what Tony recommended.  We even have some left aboard.  

Tony who runs the place has a son who was attacked by a pit bull and severely disfigured.   The poor kid has had 30 surgeries so far and is looking pretty good.  Toni does garage sales to supplement the funds he needs to continue his sons surgeries.   Great man Tony.

We hung around the boat for awhile when we returned and then I took the re-cycling to the re-cycling dumpster here.  It’s ½ mile so they don’t make it easy.

On the way I stopped to chat with Rhonda a Bruce on dock 8 and they asked me to pick up a package for them at the dock office.  So at the marina office I started looking for my package which was mislabeled as George Carter, and found one for Brent and Susan.  Ralph, the dockmaster started chuckling when I asked if he saw a package for Bruce and Rhonda.  Turns out it was the 100 lbs. box in the middle of the floor.  I discovered that just as Rhonda walked in laughing.  Jokesters are pervasive here.

We went to cocktails tonight and I started up a conversation with Bob.  Not birthday Bob from a few days ago, but new single-handler Bob.   It turns out is a nuclear physicist and is semi retired.  I thought he was pulling my leg but he knew exactly who Sean Carroll was, and Richard Feynman.  And we both got a laugh when I mentioned Sean Carroll's, What-Particle-Are-You diagram.  So I guess he’s not pulling my leg.  Not that I’m a little sensitive about that now … Bruce?

The reality show … er I mean debates if you can call them that, are annoying.   If Canada were warmer …

Nothing much doing today.  Mary made a plane reservation, I consolidated my blog notes and we took Bubbie for a walk.  Brent went to the hospital for tests, and we drank a bottle of wine.  What a concise, compact description for a days worth of activities.

We hung around on the boat for awhile this morning and then I helped Brent inspect a tent he had to repair.  Mary went off with Terry to the fabric store and Susan was getting ready to do some home care work on Jekyll Island.

When Mary returned we all drove off to Jekyll.  It costs $6 to get on the island which is evidently all state owned and leased out to people who wish to build homes and become island residents.

We dropped Susan off at a condo where she was expected, and then we remaining three drove out to Driftwood Beach.

Mary by one of the uprooted trees

Driftwood beach

The beach is distinctive.  Very large, uprooted trees render the beach an almost surreal appearance.  Very cool place.

After an hour or so we then drove back looking for a bar and found Tortuga Jacks, a mexican style restaurant over looking the beach.  Pretty tasty!  And good drinks.

We left and drove back to fetch Susan who was walking along the main road and trying to direct us to where she was while we were slowly driving around in the condo parking lots looking for her.

We did take a little driving tour of the Jekyll Island Club grounds on the way back.  Impressive!  Large, old style homes surround the hotel.  If I recall correctly some of the homes can be rented too.

Then back to the boat.  Productive boat-chore-day it was not.

Even though the forecast was calling for rain, there is rain again today.  But clouds for a little while.

I rode to the UPS store, a 10 mile round trip.  I mailed the LCD screen head from our main depth sounder, to a marine electronics in Pompano Beach, FL.

Whitish streaks is the crinkled screen

They can replace the screen which has an increasingly large sun wrinkle on the sun which obscures the screen scrolling and data.  Since we will be here for several weeks I thought it would be an ideal time to get this repaired.

Later when I got back, I helped Brent, and a helper of his, George, take down a scaffolding 4 sections high and move it, and then put three sections back up.  But before that we watched the Glynn Acadamy high school homecoming parade.

The parade seemed to lack the spattering of smiling politicians but did include an over abundance of shiny cars.  Only a few floats though.  And oddly enough, no one was tossing out candy?  Maybe that's just a Wisconsin thing.

George and I were on the scaffolding and took it apart.  Then we reassemble three sections aboout 20 feet further on to afford easier access when they paint the soffits on the roof

When we returned to the marina I finally placed a phone call to  Daniel from Aqua Marine about the water maker pump and right away he said it was a water starvation problem.  Clogged filters or a bad raw water pump!  Yeah!I was right!

 High pressure pumps cost a few thousand dollars. A raw water pump is  a  $100.  Most likely suspect is the 5 micron spun filter cartridge which I'm not going to use any longer.  Pleated or string wound is the way to go.

I called Jeff and he’s doing very well up there in Canada.  We may actually get to cruise with him again on our way to New York since he is planning on moving his boat from Titusville up to Ontario this summer.

Also called Daff but he was tied up with a party so we’ll talk tomorrow.

We did laundry today.  Exciting day!

We borrowed Brent and Susan’s mini van today and went to the dry cleaners who didn’t quite have the curtains ready.  So we went back to A1 carpets where Tony explained that the color we had first agreed upon wasn’t available anywhere.

Good old A1 Carpets on on Highway 17

So he found a roll of something close but it didn’t have a marine backing but his suggestion was it would be fine anyway since the carpet would be indoors.  He also suggested we let it sit in the sun for a few hours before laying it.   Makes it more pliable.

Then it was to MacDonalds for breakfast (it was early, before 11 after all) and then to the dry cleaners who had the curtains all spiffy and clean.  Mary says they weren’t wrinkled either.  I never knew they were.

Back at the boat I cleaned the windows and trim off while Mary threaded the sharp hanger things.  And then we started to hang them only to discover we needed some extra doodad hangers, these little plastic things that run in a metal track.  We had several dozen.  But where?

Clean, and wrinkle free curtains.  Can you tell the difference?

It took me 30 minutes to find them in an old Band Aid box.  Once we added the extra hangers we hung them all and we’re done.  Only have the sliding door of the salon to get next week (they were repairing the backing).

I walked over to the marina office to fetch my generator fuel pump and the replacement battery charger.  Stopped on the way back to kibitz with Bruce and Rhonda who like to hangout on the dock gazebo where they have a nice comfy hammock. 

Back on board I got the battery charger installed and working so we’re good to go.

Next was the Friday night cocktail party and then dinner on board with a few episodes of Frasier before a short walk and bed.

A new month tomorrow!  And some simmering tropical weather again.