The Captain Writes

Here's the Captain again. Like I said previously, I would try my hand at this thing once in a while. LOLOL

Since the next trip to New Smyrna Beach was only 15 miles we slept in and didn't leave until about 9:30. We usually have breakfast while we are traveling but that day we relaxed in the salon and enjoyed breakfast leisurely. The 2 hour trip was uneventful except we had many dolphins swimming along with us. Click on the arrow to watch the dolphins playing,, there were 4 on each side of our boat and a few at the bow. It's amazing to watch them swim and fish in our wake.

Got to our slip in New Smyrna and the Admiral said, "lets go shopping". There was a new bus service in town that took us right to Publix. It was good we went because we were out of wine and Al and Fran were expected for a pre dinner get together the next night. The bus took us right back to the marina. Nice service!!!

The next day laundry and a good cleaning both outside and inside was done to the Summer Wind.Since we had been on the hook for so many days and the weather had been so awful she got neglected. She shined when Al and Fran arrived. They have been the best of friends for many years and we make it a point to always stop in New Smyrna to see them. This evening we went to the New Smyrna Yacht Club for dinner. Hey all you guys from the Harlem, they put a PC flag on our table when they learned I was a Past Commodore. Dinner was wonderful and the company superb. Thanks Al and Fran. As always we take a group shot of all our guests but note, this one is special!!!!

The weather was going to deteriorate the next day and we had to get farther south. Got up at dawn and were out of our slip as the sun broke through the horizon. Had to traverse some pretty big open waters so we were very lucky the winds were on our back. If they were coming from the west we would have been rolling. We needed fuel and decided to stay at the Harbourtown Marina on the Canaveral Barge canal instead of going on to an open dock near Cocoa village. Again the Admiral thanked me because the winds piped up with streaks of spray coming across the white caps. So that night we spent again in comfort. By the way, this marina is where we saw the shuttle launch in the spring at 4:30 in the morning. There diesel price was the best in Florida. $2.95 per gal including tax.

Yesterday again we were up really early because it was a long day travel to Vero Beach. Got here in the early afternoon yesterday and rafted up on a mooring with our good friends Ted and Nancy. She prepared a wonderful X-mas evening dinner and like always we enjoyed each others company. So here we are,up to date on X-mas day and Mother Nature is promising 70 degree temperatures and sunny. All the boaters here, which are many, are getting together for a big pot luck dinner this afternoon. Should be fun and Elle is busy cooking for that.
Hope all have a nice day and I'll try this again in the near future.

This clip was taken in New Smyrna,, It's shortly before sunset. Egrets, Herons (blue and white), Pelicans and Cormorants use this island as a nesting site. It was interesting to watch the birds fly in what seemed  like they were synchronized on a runway. What was even more interesting was that these species respected one another's space but could have easily gone onto the other big island very close by and have plenty of room. Listen closely and you can hear them talking to one another,,, also listen for someone elses music.  : )

Welcome to Warm Sunny Florida???

Thursday December 16th-  We crossed the Georgia/Florida border... Normally we've anticipated shedding of jackets, sweaters, mitts, and donning of tees and shorts. Alas, this was not to be, in fact as we were heading into our slip the winds had picked up immensely. The captain pulled us in nice and smoothly and even the dock master complimented him on how well he controlled the Summer Wind. Our destination today was the Fernandina Harbor Marina on Amelia Island where we would spend 2 days getting our land legs back and getting off the boat to explore. Working together we made short work of laundry, cleaning up the boat and getting ourselves showered. That night we enjoyed a lovely relaxing dinner at Guaranno's Italian Restaurant.
We've been told that nothing 'exciting' happens on Amelia Island, but upon returning back to the Summer Wind from an outing, we noticed police cars and a crowd of people by the boat ramp. Curious like we are,, we wanted to find out what the fuss was all about.. Well they have a funny way of parking cars on this tiny little Island,, and it sure doesn't look easy trying to get out of that spot. Turns out someone stole the car a whole block away and parked it in the basin....where else can you park it?? The Island is only 14 miles long.

The townsfolk are very friendly here, we learned about the history of some of the families and how they are making things work through this recession. Later in the afternoon we were sitting on the boat and noticed a man walking back and forth the Summer Wind. The captain being curious and friendly himself went out and talked with 'Bob'. He explained how his dream is two years away to be cruising on a boat similar to the Summer Wind. After talking with him a bit, we discovered he knew people that we knew and so the Captain invited him aboard to have a look inside. Well, Bob was grateful for the tour and chat and later in the afternoon thanked us with some shrimp. Wasn't that nice!! Thanks Bob.. great to meet you and hope to see you on the waterway in 2 years.

Mother nature was unpredictable, there were more winter storms coming across and so we ended up spending one more night in the Fernandina marina. We were plugged in warm, and had all the comforts needed, so why go out again in cold weather?

Sunday December 19th- Our day was going to be a long trip to St. Augustine. Normally we would spend a couple of days here but we wanted to get further south and hopefully find some warm weather. Our plan had been to spend a night on one of their mooring balls that is now a new feature to the marina. But as we were travelling along and the temperatures not making 50 degrees the captain said, this is nuts, we're going to be plugged in tonight and decided to take a slip at the marina. Not only had the temperatures dropped, but the winds had really be blowing and if we had been on a mooring it would have been darn cold!!! Thank you Captain Honey!!!!!! We did brave it out for a quick walk through the town, and enjoyed dinner out,, but we were happy to be tucked into a warm comforter with heat for the night!

Monday December 20th- Our destination today was the Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona. We hadn't been here for a couple of years and the last time we had been here we met so many wonderful people. So, we decided to give it a try. The marina is beautiful, floating docks, and they have a pool ( but its too darn cold for that), but we were disappointed walking along the main street. There were only 2 shops occupied along the main drag that offered any means of shopping and the restaurants were bar type. What a shame! So, we had a quiet evening aboard the Summer Wind and looked forward to our next stop New Smyrna Beach.

"The Moon Over Georgia"

This is the Herb River anchorage in GA where we spent 3 days waiting out a winter storm that had struck all along the east coast from Florida to the northern states. The night time lows fell to the teens and the temperatures inside the cabin were a balmy 38 degrees and the winds outside at times were blowing plus 40 knots. The rain teemed in sideways and we were so glad that it wasn't snowing!!  Our anchorage was very protected, the Summer Wind barely rocked.  We entertained ourselves cuddled under blankets keeping warm, watching movies and indulging in homemade chilli, or a pot of fresh hot soup and.  We ran the generator more often then usual to warm up the inside of the Summer Wind but not at night when we would sleep. Thank goodness for down comforters! Unfortunately we didn't get to see the moon or the stars,,, too cloudy and cold!! Each morning we woke up to ice on the windows and very slippery decks. brrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Finally the winds settled down enough for us to weigh anchor and head down to our next destination. When bringing up the anchor we discovered our salt water wash down pump had froze,, it's a good thing the anchor came up decently clean. Any water that fell onto the deck from the anchor and chain instantly froze. Normally we would steer the boat from the bridge, but because it was still too darn cold we took advantage of being able to steer from inside the cabin.

 Our next stop was the Frederica River anchorage. We could have gone into a marina that evening but decided that this anchorage was pretty protected from any winds and so we would be 'comfortable' for the night. That day the temperature highs were in the high 40's and the nights were in the low 20's,, still not 'boating weather'.

Our last day in Georgia was another anchorage in the Wahoo River. Temperatures were beginning to rise but still too cold for southern comfort.  It would be good to finally get to Florida.



Cows making short work of the tall grass

 The ICW winds through the Georgia marshland with tall grasses, shallow water and fast currents. There are times your crossing your fingers and toes that there is enough water to get through. Our last day in Georgia took us through the Cumberland dividings.. a notorious spot for catching captains off guard that don't pay attention to the markers and as we were traversing through,, it had captured a huge sailboat on a sandbar. We had no problem following the markers,, but we were so happy to cross the Georgia/Florida border.