May 17-21, 2014 Traveling to Savannah

May 17 left Cumberland Island for Duplin Creek.

Our last night at Cumberland with a full moon!

We were up and ready to go by Left 7:15 this morning in order to play the tides so that when we approached the ICW trouble (very shallow) spots we would do so at high, or rising tide levels.  Better to get up early then go a-ground I always say.

Last year we literally plowed through the mud at Jekyll creek when we went through at low tide.  This year we went through on a rising tide and had no troubles.  After last year this was almost a disappointing experience just gliding through without a worry.  Still though, I like gliding rather than plowing.  

Little Mud River has really a very shallow spot entering the cut from either end so its best to do this at high tide.  We saw 5 feet at the entrance going in and it was at near high tide.  I cant imagine how anyone could get through here at low tide.

Finally after getting through all of these shallow areas we were at the Duplin River in DeBoy sound.  It's a nice broad river and the times we have been here, rarely occupied by more than a few boats.  Same situation tonight with only 2 other boats anchored with us.  It was a very calm night.  Peaceful and quite. 



Tomorrow we're planning heading out to the ocean for the trip to St. Catherine Sound and one of our favorite anchorages, Walburg Creek!

May 18 left Duplin River for Walburg Creek.

Leaving Deboy Sound for the ocean

We were up at a leisurely 8:30 and left the Duplin River out the Deboy Sound to the by 9:15.  There were only 2-3 foot swells, basically a calm day with mild temperatures and mostly sunny skies.

We were the only boat out there about 5 miles off shore.  It was a wonderful, gently swaying in the mild swells.  And it was warm but the cool ocean breeze kept it comfortable.

St. Catherine sound and two other boats

We were cruising at  a leisurely 7mph so it took us about 7 hours in the ocean before we were seeing the markers for  St. Catherine Sound.   We were joined by two other boats bound for the sound as well.  They came in from further out to sea so we didn't see them until; we were close to the inlet buoys. 

Trespassers on Cleo's beach

We came into St. Catherine sound without any problems.  Walburg Creek is about a mile up from the inlet where there is a long stretch of beach curving around the island.  This is the beach where Cleo frolicked last year.  At that time it was essentially deserted.  Not so today.

Anchored in Walburg Creek looking back to the Sound

We anchored about midway up the very broad and deep creek along with 4 other boats.  It was a calm, enjoyable evening as we stayed on the boat since we were leaving early the next day for Isle of Hope near Savannah.

May 19 left Walburg Creek for Isle of Hope

Hells Gate entrance to the left

We left Walburg Creek moderately early so we could time our arrival at Hells Gate to correspond to high tide.  And we got it pretty much right on.  There was only 5 feet at the entrance to the cut and given the tidal ranges there are can be up to 3 feet in can reach a stage where its impassable until the tide rises.  And that can be several hours.

Hells Gate is little ½ mile cut on the ICW that is incredibly shallow if you go through it at anything but high or near high tide.  We arrived there at almost high tide and on entering we did see a short stretch of  5 foot depths before the depths started getting  deeper readings.

We had no trouble running up the next 10 miles to Isle of Hope Marina.  The stretch of the ICW about 5 miles south of  Isle of Hope is another area where transiting at high tide is the prudent thing to do and since its not that far from Hells Gate we had no issues.

Great spot on the face dock

We arrived at near slack water and the Marina  assigned us a spot on the face dock right at the end.  So leaving the dock would be easy.  The current and wind pretty much just eased us into the dock.

Nice people.  The place is "older" but quite nice.  They have two courtesy cars but only one bath/shower for each gender.  But they were nice!

They have tides here!  And ramps with rollers

The marina

There really are 4 birds hanging on me

 

Mary Ann from Destin munching on my glasses

We stayed aboard and then the next day went to Walmart for food in the courtesy car.  We ran into a woman there who was showing off here birds.  For some reason they seemed to think I was a desirable tree or something cause they all just hopped up and climbed all over me. The woman takes the birds to hospices and day care centers so we gave her a generous donations to help with the bird food.

The parrot is the spitting image of Mary Ann from Destin.









Next morning we cleaned a bit and did some minor repairs around the boat.  And laundry.  Don and Linda with Danielle and Mike her new husband stopped over later for drinks in the late afternoon and then we went out to dinner.  We all fit in Danielle's car for the mile drive to a surprisingly good Mexican restaurant nearby.  And I forgot to take pictures.  Sorry!!  But it was great to see them all!

One of the boulevards 

River front road

We took one of the cars the following morning and drove about 5 miles to a Publix to stock up since the nearby Walmart was somewhat deficient in their grocery selections. And as an added bonus a nice ice cream shop was next door to Publix so really, was there any reason not to go there?

I took a long walk around Isle of Hope later in the afternoon.  Its a very quaint place with interesting homes and byways with very large trees forming a canopy of sorts shading out the hot sun.  Very nice!

And everyone I met stopped to say hello and chat for a few minutes.  Very friendly folks!

The streets aren't laid out in any discernible grid pattern so I pretty much wandered around crossing back on places I had already passed.  Still a worthy and interesting time.

The marina

We are planning on leaving here on the 22 for the Stono River anchorage near Charleston and spending 4 or 5 days there.  Anchoring costs us maybe $4 in generator fuel versus at least $100 a night if we stayed in a marina.  So we like to anchor out a lot!

May 10, 2014 - May 16th Cumberland Island Anchorage

Just have to go through these two bridges to leave Huckins

We left the Huckins dock around 8am and ran up through Jacksonville and on into Sister Creek which is the continuation of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) after crossing the St. Johns River.  Typical ICW ditch scenery.

Heading out of Ortega River into Jacksonville and beyond

We came up to Fort George which has been described as a popular anchorage in past years but reading the latest notes about entering the waterway there, many mentioned the shoaling to the north side of the channel.  In fact when we tried there was 3 feet of water even though we did use the current instructions on hugging the south side of the entry. Sorry no pictures.  I was too trying keep us out off the muddy bottom.  So no joy for Ft. George.  It was on to Cumberland Island.

Fernandina Beach City Marina

We had to pass through Fernandina Beach which was just as we remembered it from last year.  The marina was pretty full too but the mooring field was rather empty and several boats were anchored out near there.

Running across the inlet and its myriad number of buoys  

Anchored right in front of the Park dock

We ran across the St.Marys River inlet and into the main channel before turning up into the Cumberland Island entry point which lies right along the ICW but behind some very low islands which disappear at high tide.  Found a spot right across from the park dock.  It was a nice spot but only 20 feet or so from the shallow island.  But we were hooked pretty good and the weather wasn't turning nasty until later in the week.  We made water and are ready for a week of relaxing.. 

From the anchorage looking out towards the inlet

Ice Cream deprived mother annoyed at my dawdling

Mothers day we took the dinghy 7 miles across the sound into Fernandina Beach.  Had ice cream.  Being Mothers day I guess it was permissible to have ice cream at two or three shops.  But just to compare you see.  One must always add to one’s experiences.  And there are a plethora of ice cream shops in this town.  Now they all know Mary personally.

Our dinghy is in here somewhere

Ice Cream!!

Satiated and relaxing on the main drag

Mary and "her" beach

We headed back to the boat and went to the Cumberland Island beach for a brief walk before the storms blew in.  Well, storms in appearance only.  Nasty dark clouds out in the southwestern sky which I figured would bring us buckets of rain and momentary high winds.  All we received were a few sprinkles and no wind.. 

Nasty looking clouds

 I was on the bow watching all the lightening off in the distance.  Very scenic.  Some  friends of ours further north near Savannah got drenched so I guess we were a little wedge of mild weather.

Our dinghy at the Cumberland Park dock

Radar image of the rain which never got to us

Main road along the river in St. Mary's

Next day we took the dinghy another 7 miles but to St. Marys, a sleepy town up the St. Marys river.  Of course we had ice cream again.   We stayed for a few hours and then headed back down the river but with the tide and winds in conjunction, it was pretty rough.  

Delightful boulevard in downtown St. Marys

Ice Cream and gift shop sells a lot of these?

Looking back towards the river

Yeah!  Bug Free.

Stopped back at the boat then went over to the island to walk to the ruins.  Made it about ½ mile when we realized we were a banquet for the bugs so I dashed back to the dinghy where I had some Deep Woods Off.  We sprayed up and set out again.  Bugs were foiled and not just mosquitoes but these damnable no-seeums which you can’t see but essentially eat your skin, one tiny chunk at  a time. 

Cumberland Horses

Perused the Dungeness ruins .  Wow, big house and overly generous lands around it.  And of course the horses.  Saw almost 2 dozen.  They just eat the grass and ignore you even though we were only feet away.  Literature cites a warning to not interfere with them because they will kick and bite but these seemed unusually benign.  We also stumbled upon wild turkeys and a number of small deer.

Cumberland Horses again

Dungeness ruins.  

Gates in front of the mansion 

Ready to head back

We headed back to the dock around 5 with swarms of mosquitoes around us but unable to suck our blood thanks to the often sprayed Deep Woods Off.  Frustrated mosquitoes elicit sympathy from me.  Yeah ...








 We dinghied back to the boat and had a drink on the bow, grilled chicken, made water and did laundry and then, after Mary had her TV fix, went to bed.  Since we had to run the generator to make water and charge up the batteries, I had the rear stateroom A/C on full blast.  But it still went up to around 80 at about 2am when I woke up dreaming I was a loaf of bread in an oven.  Sheez, was it warm.

Anchored in a new cozy spot

We plan on figuring out where we'll head to next tomorrow.  But its really cozy and nice here so the impetus to move is waning..

Today, Tuesday, we ran the dinghy the 7 miles to Fernandina Beach again to gas up (4.9 gal)  and dump out garbage.  

Dolphins ... always showing off

Got back to the boat and packed up the beach gear including our Canadian  beach umbrella (Kathy will remember!), chairs, books, and a cooler.  It was low tide when we got there so the beach had grown double to what it was on our prior visit.  And surprisingly warm water.  We sat, sunbathed walked and swam until about 4 when we headed back.

The path back to where we dock the dinghy is through some forested areas replete with creatures of all sorts including a lithe and slithery black snake.  I couldn't tell what kind it was since the loud exhortations from Mary and some other people sacred the crap out of the poor thing and it wiggled its way off the path and into the underbrush.  But it was a stunner.   All black with a tiny forked tongue flicking in and out gauging the tenor of its situation.  Anyway there are 3 poisonous snakes indigenous to the island.  For all I know we may have seen one!

On the way though we came across an armadillo who was entirely focused on  consuming creepy crawly things it was finding along the path.  He momentarily halted his bug consumption to  gaze up at us rather disinterestedly before abruptly returning to his bug hunting.  Good for him!

We still haven’t decided where we are going next so given that decision, we’re probably going to stay here through Friday since there is a low pressure system rolling across from the west and bringing rains and winds.  We’re nice and secure here and we have a whole island to explore.

Today Mary kayak and I hiked 7 miles through mosquito invested jungle.  All in all, I made the poorer choice of activity.  

We also met two ladies on a small sailboat, Louise, with a dog and a kayak as a dinghy.  And it was a big dog!

Decided to move the boat today because we were about 20 yards from the sand bar which runs parallel  to the anchorage.  In fact our draft is 4.5 feet. And the depth sounder was showing 4.6 feet.  Time to move.  So we hauled up the anchor and as Mary held the snubber up I drove the boat about a 100 yards closer to shore and we anchored again.  Much better.  The winds were forecast to pickup tomorrow along with some thunderstorms.  And so having finally learned, its better to get situated before the storm, we did.  Nice and cozy now!  

It clouded over by mid morning which diminished the solar panel output severely. So much so I had to run the generator for 2 hours to get the batteries topped off before it rained.  I noticed a disparity between the port and starboard battery charging rates.  It looks like the temperature probe for the port battery charger is faulty.  It still charges but the charge rate isn't compensating for battery temperature.

Thunderstorms raged all around us but we were lucky as we only  received periods of torrential downpours.   It actually turned sunny in the early evening before the last line of rain moved through.  

The next morning though we noticed we had dragged a bit during the night and were way to close to the Park dock.  And since the winds were really blowing out of the Northwest and we ended up having to move the boat again today to reset the anchor.

In preparation for visiting Savannah we called Thunderbolt Marina which is the premier marina near Savannah.  Full.  So we ended up making a reservation at Isle of Hope Marina for a few days from now when we, according to our failure proof planning, will be there.  I hope ...

And so the next day, Saturday, May 17, we're heading out for Duplin River where we'll anchor for the night before heading out Doboy sound to the ocean in the morning for a 60 mile trip to Walburg Creek in St. Catherine's sound.  We decided to by-pass some of the ICW in favor of ease of cruising and worrying not about tides and depths but just enjoying the ocean.

April 30th -May 3rd 2014 Huckins Boat Yard Jacksonville

I should mention that our venerable Kodak digital camera has up and died.  So pictures are a little sparse until we secure another one somewhere up the coast.  I should also make note that we are , as of Thursday, May 21 on our way from Savannah to Charleston.  Yes, I'm a little behind.  
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We were woken up the next morning by one of the yard guys knocking on the starboard wing door.  He was asking why we were here.  It was 8am and I couldn't tell him who we were or why we were here for a few seconds.  I think the guy became a little suspicious after that.

Deb, the office manager,  had instructed us to just tie up when we arrived and let the security guard know we were there.  We did that but evidently the information didn't make over to the yard guys.

We were awake enough  when a few minutes later when PJ, the yard foreman  came aboard.  I told him what we wanted to accomplish and gave him a list.   After a short walk around the boat he headed off to do his estimates and we walked around and had a look at the place.  There are several fine old Huckins yachts here.  And a few non-Huckins boats having work completed.

We headed over to the main office and met Deb knows most everything.  She's the go-to person.  We signed the typical marina agreement and were told we couldn't live on the boat when it was out of the water.  And actually it's a good thing since we cant run our A/C units unless the boat is in the water.  The weather is projecting 90's for the next several days.  There are also no showers and the bathrooms are locked when Jerry, the night security guy, leaves for the night.  Lap of luxury.

We were looking at a few days wait before we'd be getting hauled out but at least we knew the area since we had been here for several weeks last year.  We just hung around the boat and walked over to the Roosevelt Square, the nearby mall Wednesday.

Thursday we got the work estimates and after talking with Deb and making a few adjustments we were told to expect work to begin Friday morning.   After meeting with Deb we headed back to the boat where we both did some work on the computer, and started to clean.  We put away all the stuff we had out when the Hagens visited last week.  We didn't put away earlier simply because we have to stow under the beds and its sort of a pain.  And why do today what you can put off until tomorrow, right?

Move the 40 lb.battery box and floor board and there's my hole!

I went off for a late afternoon jaunt but Mary called a few minutes after I left.  "No Water"!  So back to the boat I went.  The fresh water pump died.  Most likely the pressure switch and I dont have a re-build kit for this particular pump.  I dug out the spare pump and started digging into the bilge.  The pumps are under a floor board (really deck grating) and in order to access it I have to move the two starting batteries for the Cummins engines.  Then once they are out of the way I get to hang down in a wet dark hole and unscrew water lines and disconnect an electrical fitting and pull the pump out.  Then reverse the whole process with a new pump.   Easy, except for the aches and pains associated with contorting an old body into a skinny hole in the floor.  But I got the new pump in, threw the breaker and ... nothing. No water.  No pump running noise.  It was late so I just said screw it, went out and filled some water jugs and went to bed.

So many water pumps ...

Next morning I was the first customer at West  Marine where I bought yet another model of water pump because they didn't have what I wanted in stock.  I got it back and had it mounted and in place in 15 minutes (practice seems to have a positive effect on repair expertise).  We threw the breaker and  ... nothing.  I couldn't believe it.  I went back in the hole and checked all the electrical connections which were fine.  Threw the breaker on again and still nothing ... except after a minute or so while I was pondering my next move the pump burst into life and started pumping water.  Near as I can figure it must have been the pressure switch not sensing any pressure in the lines.  But no matter.  We have water for another few months ... I'm a pessimist with water pumps now days.

Generator

The yard mechanic showed up a few hours later and he did the valves on the generator while I watched.  None of them needed adjustments and I saw how easy it was to do. So in another thousand hours of generator run time,. I'll be the one adjusting valves.

Next we tinkered with the port engine and the excessive oil/belt dust problem.  I was sure it was the idler pulley since I heard squeaking but we pulled the belt off and the pulley was fine.  He was sure it was a worn belt.  Ok, so I grabbed one of my spares and we put it on.  No more squeak and it looks like no more dust.  All in all, the guy was on the boat about an hour.

Saturday we did some financial investment work, and started organizing all our routes and track information from one computer to another.  Mary had a burst of energy and vacuumed and then defrosted the galley fridge.  After all that work we headed back over to Panera for dinner.  I should note we cant grill in the marina so it appears we'll be sampling the local eateries for awhile.

Curt & Marilyn

Sunday, Curt and Marilyn pulled into the Ortega Yacht Club where we stayed last year.  It was good to see them again.  We wandered over there and talked with Paul, the dock master for awhile too.  And he actually remembered us!

Yes.  Mary supervises "everything".  Craig was sooo happy

Monday finally rolled around and we were ready to go at 8:30.  I had to move the boat off the small  lift pier and move it over to the other slipway where the large is located.  Joe, one of the yard guys came with us to handle lines etc.

 I nestled the boat into the rather narrow large lift slipway and we tied it up  The large lift, driven by Craig, rolled up and they lowered the slings and plucked us out of the water with ease.

After 6,000 miles it's pretty dirty

Once we were swinging in the slings we could see first hand how dirty the bottom had become but also how minimal the damage the diver in Stuart insisted we had on the keel.

Joe power washed the hull over the course of 2 hours and it was pretty clean as far as we could see.

What do do.  Sit by the pool and relax maybe?

The boatyard has a policy of not living aboard when the boat is out of the water.  So we got to go to a hotel (at our expense) for three days while they cleaned, fixed, sanded and painted.   We ended up going to a Hilton Garden Inn which is located about 9 miles from the marina in Orange Park.  All we could do is sleep late and laze around the pool all day.  Yes it was kinda fun the first day but I was getting bored by the second day.  On the third day we elected to call Joe (The other Joe) and ask him to pick us up at the hotel and take us back to the boat yard so we could see what was going on

Joe is a classic New York Italian who stopped at Huckins about 10 years ago to have a plumbing problem rectified.  And he never left, living on his 36 Manatee at the boat yard and doing parts runs and other errands like picking up customers form the airport or driving customers to hotels.  Colorful is just insufficient to describe him.  Sweetheart of a man and I think he’s the panache that in part makes Huckins such a phenomenal place to stop.

It had been hot the last few days and today was no exception.  Another day in the 90’s!   Even the normal retinue of cats were all under the shady bushes and uninterested in trotting out to investigate us when we were walking into the yard.  And yes, I brought them cat treats just like several others there.  They seem to live a pretty good life for wild cats.

We were gone for 2 days and in that time the yard accomplished quite a bit of work.  The boats hull had been painted, a full bottom paint job.  They also raised the level of the bottom paint line slightly because our water line seems to have sunk a few inches, undoubtedly due to the amount of “stuff” we have on board.  Looks really good, and I think it will help keep the scum lines more controllable. 

Before they repaired the cracks on the rub rail end

The fiberglass guys were finishing up repairing some of the big nicks and gouges we had from the Loop trip and the Locks in the Canals.  Canals and Lock can be hard on a boat!  They were also repairing the windlass which had developed an annoying oil leak. 

The dinghy was already to go and all we had to do was wait for an estimate on the swim platform.  So instead of hanging around the hot boat yard we trudged off to the mall and had lunch in the cool of a Subway.  We took our time and after a while headed back to the boat yard to wait for Joe to take us back to the hotel.  But we did find out they were planning on putting us back in the water the next afternoon.

We loitered around the hotel the next morning not wanting to endure the heat at the boat yard.  Around noon we took a cab the 9 miles back to Huckins.  The cab driver was a displaced boat builder from Maine.  A wood boat builder no less, who was looking for work in Jacksonville.

We arrived with all our luggage in hand.  The day before we had the foresight to take our laundry back to the boat.  Yes we brought a huge load of laundry to the hotel because the boatyard didn’t have laundry facilities and the hotel did.  And cheap ones too!  I guess we've reached the age where there is no embarrassment.  It sure wasn't embarrassing to us having our bags of dirty laundry in the middle of the hotel lobby acting as sort of a divider forcing people to the left or right side of the counter.  Oh well.

They had the boat off the jack stands and in the sling as we returned from the hotel.  We did take a cab much to Joe’s annoyance. 

Fiberglass work with tape and coverings

The fiberglass guys had removed all his tape etc. so as soon as we arrived and they took a few minutes and put us back in the water, stern first.  It floated! But being in stern first wasn't such a great thing because I cant see a thing behind when I’m trying to back the boat anywhere.  And the slipway was incredibly narrow,  So the yard guys simply hooked up a few dock lines and we hauled our 26 ton monster up the slipway and around the corner to eventually tie it up on the face dock.  

Luckily there was an incoming tide so the current just helped push the boat around the corner. 

On the face dock after being pulled around the corner

We stayed there for the night after a power glitch was remedied (main breaker had been thrown).  We were asked to not start the engines and move the boat because of the fiberglass repairs at the butt end of the rub rail on the stern. 

In the water!

The next morning at 8am we started up and moved the boat back inside the boat yard basin next to another large boat, Lime Time.  And Gregg and Dona stopped to see us  and we headed over to Metropolitan Café in the mall.  It’s a local favorite and really good.  Spend several hours with them talking and eating.  What a great surprise to see them!

New zincs, new paint, new swim platform strut

When we returned I had a nice talk with the mechanic and he said the belt was delivered and he got everything put back together and test ran the generator.  And he even fabricated a little metal dowel which repaired the generator sound shield panel which was being held by one a single pin.  Thanks!   So I guess we’re all set which meant we had to pay the bill.  Yikes!  But the yard gave the boat a nice wash down for free!  We decided not to leave until the following morning so we could ride the ebb tide out the river to join the ICW at Sister Creek near the inlet to the ocean.  Last year we took the ocean to Fernandina Beach but since we were planning on stopping at Ft. George it didn't make sense to head outside.

We had parked the dinghy under the garage type building in front  of where we were tied up.  We decided to take a ride and test out the new steering they repaired.  Wheel turns like butter.  So we  took it up the river a ways and then back down river and out under the Ortega Bridge to the out to the St. Johns river.  It was rather rough out there so we headed back and decided to just load it back up on the boat in case we decided to leave the next morning. 

But late in the afternoon I discovered the Windlass was leaking oil again.  Justin came over and noted that the O ring they had used to repair the Windlass sight glass leak wasn't doing the job and he offered to order a sight glass and even drive to where we would be and install it!  Wow!. But I declined since we weren't sure where we’d be.  So he was simply going to mail it to us when we finally stop at a marina.  Probably Thunderbolt in GA.

So now we're leaving in the morning!  At 8:00 am though which will get us into a nice ebbing tidal current.  Getting up though might be a challenge.

  

April 26-April 29 2014 St. Augustine to Ortega River Huckins Boat yard

We decided to stay here in St. Augustine for a few more days before heading to Huckins Boat Yard in Jacksonville.  And since it was the weekend they weren't open anyway.  So we did laundry, cleaned the boat and I took the dinghy out  to buzz around the town.  Basically we rested and putzed.   

Making water at 70 gph!

I was able to make water a few times when the tide was rushing in giving us full tanks when we left.  We were also able to pump out our holding tank right at the dock.

I decided to take the dinghy for one last buzz up the river before hauling it back on deck.  The slip next to us was vacant and it was near slack tide so one last run and then haul it out.  I took it up past the inlet and and as I was turning around a big boat blew by me.  As I turned into the wake the steering suddenly became unresponsive.  Drats.  I checked and the steering cable running from the wheel to the piston had snapped.  NO steering and about 4 miles from the marina. So for the next hour I ran the engine at a slow enough speed so I could steer the boat by pushing on the outboard engine cowling.  Lots-o-fun bouncing around in the ocean swells and boat wakes.    I finally got it to the boat and we hauled it up on deck and had it secured.  Funny how it would take us an hour to do this a year ago, while now its a 10 minute exercise. 

  

Curt and Marilyn.

The next day we were surprised by Curt and Marilyn showing up in the marina!  They're sailors doing the loop on a 26' foot Hunter whom we first met in Alton Illinois.  Great folks!  And a really nice boat.  For a sailboat that is. :-)

We went out to dinner with them at that Brazillian/Italian place, Solo Saint Augustifl.   We ate lunch at a few days ago with the Hagens.  Had a nice long chat with the owner, a very fun person.  And we ate outside which made Mary happy at least.

I should mention that Curt and Marilyn are the only people I've ever met who have been stopped by a border patrol boat, one of those 1200 hp speed boats with 4 guys and guns.  Must have been their sinister appearance and scowling demeanor.

We ended up heading over to OC Whites for desert before heading back to the boats.

The next day Curt and Marilyn did the tourist thing while we readied the boat for the journey up to Jacksonville. 

The currents here can really rip through the marina so most prudent cruisers wait until near slack tide to minimize the current effects.  And that's what we did.  We didn't leave until around 9 which was making a pretty tight traveling window to Huckins boat yard about 60 miles away.   We backed out and turned around and headed under the Bridge of Lions without a problem.  But I kept remembering this catamaran that had come in yesterday that was pushed around by the currents ultimately causing it to smash into one of the cement finger pier supports.  Horrible crunching sound.  I didn't hear how bad the damage was, but it sure sounded pretty awful.

Hard to see through the glare but that 12.2 is our speed!

The tide was just starting to go out in so we didn't derive any benefit from the tidal flow until we reached a point where the tide was flowing out of the Jacksonville inlet thus carrying us along with it.  12.1 mph.  That's a new high for us!

Fighting tidal currents 

Then after getting into the St. Johns river we hit the out going tide and our speed dropped to about 4.5 mph.

Near Ponte Vedra Beach

It was an uneventful trip for the mostly part except maybe when a Border Patrol  boat with four 300hp outboards was riding parallel to us through a no wake zone in Ponte Vedra Beach.  As soon as we passed through the no-wake sign they blasted off leaving us wallowing in the huge wake.

Torrential rain in those clouds over downtown

We wound our way around the St. Johns and as we passed through the harbor facilities I spotted the rain clouds up ahead of us so we buttoned everything up.   And sure enough as we entered the downtown portion of the river, we were caught in a torrential downpour for about 45 minutes.  I could barley make out the railroad bridge which is usually open except, obviously, when trains are passing through.  And it was closed because I heard, more than saw the train.  But even in the downpour we were able to see enough so we could time our arrival at the bridge as it was opening.  So no delays!

Ortega River Bridge

The instructions we received from Deb at Huckins was to tie up in their small lift slipway which was just inside the marina basin.  The trial though was getting into the Ortega River.  The Ortega and St. Johns merge just outside of Jacksonville and the there are no navigational markers laying out a path to follow in the Ortega from the St. Johns.  Armed with local knowledge we followed the dictated path.  This is the third time we've been in here and we've always hit a shallow area where the depth sounder goes wild.  And sure enough, it repeated itself again. Guess we need better local knowledge.  But we made it through without any groundings.

Tied to the slip way pier waiting to be hauled out

We came up to the Ortega River Bridge and requested an opening.  They promptly complied and we found ourselves at Huckins Boat yard in a few minutes.  We turned in and tied right along the slipway pier all by ourselves.  Didn't even have the marriage savers (two-way radio headsets).  After plugging in and securing all the lines, we walked the half mile to Panera and had dinner before returning for a good nights sleep.  The plan was to get estimates tomorrow and then begin work.  We're having some hull repairs made, bottom paint along with the dinghy steering cable replacement and some minor adjustments to the generator and main engines.

Most of the mechanical things I could do myself but having never tinkered with diesels much I'm first watching someone who knows what they're doing before tackling the jobs.

We'll see how it goes over the next few days.  At least we are in the water and are able to run our A/C.  Its in the mid 80's here and really  humid.  Once we're out of the water we wont be able cool the boat at all. But we've just learned Huckins prefers we dont live aboard while the boats out of the water, so we'll be off to a luxury hotel when we do get hauled.