12/14/15 Monday
It was a short travel day from Cumberland Island to Fernandina Beach, FLORIDA (!). Three months, almost to the day. We re-met some folks we'd spoken to in Deltaville (was that Maryland?) and the "catamaran w/no mast" that we played leap frog with from NYC to around Belhaven NC but then lost is up river of us in the mooring field.
Not too much to report. Today was a bit of a regular (read boring and, therefore, tiring...or maybe tiring and therefore, boring (?)) work day. I'm in need of an attitude adjustment. We walked into the Historic District and saw beautifully pastel painted houses and I recognized one tabby house. Impressive "concrete" of oyster shells, house was 3-stories tall with dark purple shutters on the windows. Other sweet "compounds" of 3 or 4 houses surrounding a "hidden" garden. Even the smaller houses out of the historical district were well kept and pastel. And, it is warm.
However, without my friends, work and hobbies there becomes a sameness that is... well, boring. We've seen so much. Experienced so much. And.....so, am I collecting experiences that will coalesce into some learning of value that I am able to recognize? Convoluted thought/sentence. Does my experiencing have value beyond entertainment? Will I be able to recognize that value? I guess we'll see somewhere along this way. As I write I realize I need a day off from the boat and David, so that we're not having to negotiate our every move and I'm not constrained by lack of space. And we DID walk way too far to get to a grocery store today when we didn't really need groceries. It was our friends who needed groceries and they didn't even go. We hired a cab for the return trip. An example of our auto-centric world.
We've decided to travel a short distance tomorrow so that St Augustine is easily reachable on Wednesday. Perhaps a couple of days there with separate agendas as well as duo sight-seeing. My life is good. Just a little bump slump in attitude here.
Monday, December 14, 2015
12/13/15 Sunday A day of touring Cumberland Island...in a van w/8 other people. Ranger Steve was terrific (as was Ranger Nick yesterday). Having seen and listened to both talking about different sections of the island (north and south) I learned so much about the Carnegie family (the Thomas branch) and people of wealth of that era (mid-1800 - early 1900s). All photos today. Opulence of the times.
Travel day tomorrow.
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| Chair leg |
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| 8 or 10 original Tiffany lamps |
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| This wallpaper is hand-painted burlap |
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| From a freed slave house. The color is to keep ghosts/spirits away |
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| Travel friends, John and Darlene |
Saturday, December 12, 2015
12/12/15 Sa-tur-day in the park.....
I wore my bathing suit today, even got my ankles wet in the Atlantic Ocean. Too chilly for more than the ankles for this thinning blood.
It all started around 9:30 when we took the dinghy into the Cumberland Island National Park dock, met our friends, John and Darlene, and started walking. We met the park tour group that had come over from St. Mary's on the ferry. We joined in for the tour of the Thomas Carnegie estate remains. The park ranger/guide, Nick Roll, was wonderful - knowledgeable, curious to learn more, passionate about his work and really handsome with light blue eyes. I should have taken a photo of him. Sigh.
Again, giant trees. Spanish moss. Palmetto "bushes" (?). A wide, shallow beach that went on for miles with only a handful of people. White sand dunes. Horses! Horses along the pathways. We stood aside for a stallion and a mare to pass and saw others grazing. Wild turkeys, which seem to be unusual here. A long snake which we think was a garter of some sort.
We packed sun screen, bug spray (which we didn't need, we were told that mosquitoes need fresh water to reproduce and this is all salt water), sandwiches, water and off we went.
After the tour we were on our own to explore the beach and find our way back to the "Sea Camp" station and dock. Not too hard. Met a couple who travel across the US volunteering at National Parks...next job, maybe.
After all that sun, checking on Amelia was a great excuse to return to the boat for a nap and a good read. I've started the book by Cornelia (of Sapelo Island) and am loving the language of the black, rural South.
And tonight high clouds obscure some of the stars and there is light pollution from nearby cities and the naval base. Tonight and tomorrow night are supposed to be 25 shooting stars/hr. The warm but stiff breeze kept me from staying outside for long enough to see a star shoot. Shoot! I also didn't find a shark tooth on the beach today. Meanwhile, sitting on the boat in the near darkness, seeing Orion, Pleiades, Cassiopeia and feeling other wonders of the universe...including my presence here/now, I am sooo aware of my many blessings. Similarly, sitting after dinner across the table from David, listening to Prairie Home Companion...remarkably blessed. We had a little dance together in the Pilot house to one of the Keb Mo songs. I've done nothing to deserve these gifts. GRACE on Grace.
I wore my bathing suit today, even got my ankles wet in the Atlantic Ocean. Too chilly for more than the ankles for this thinning blood.
It all started around 9:30 when we took the dinghy into the Cumberland Island National Park dock, met our friends, John and Darlene, and started walking. We met the park tour group that had come over from St. Mary's on the ferry. We joined in for the tour of the Thomas Carnegie estate remains. The park ranger/guide, Nick Roll, was wonderful - knowledgeable, curious to learn more, passionate about his work and really handsome with light blue eyes. I should have taken a photo of him. Sigh.
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| The left and right sections are made of Tabby, made by heating oyster shells then mixing the resulting lime with other oyster shells and sand. |
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| Tabby w/vine |
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| horse |
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| These limbs are nearly on the ground |
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| Not sure why they grow so horizontal and low but very dramatic... |
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| ...coming from New England where trees grow UP more than OUT |
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| A bit washed out but perspective |
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| Our pathway and picnic view |
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| Picnic view in the other direction |
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| Tree bones |
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| David put his hand on the throttle for the photo. Minutes before, "look, Ma, no hands!" |
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| Ocean treasures from Cumberland Island |
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| Color |
12/11/15 Friday SHANNON'S Birthday, Hurrah!!!
What a beautiful day in St. Mary's. The Lang's Marine East might be a bit shabby but the day and the people certainly are not! We had coffee on the aft deck under our Bimini, quiet with only my favorite messy black birds doing their seashore call. I think they are Grackles but I only know they are messy and I love their ratchety, screechy voices. They and the ferry - 3 of them - to Cumberland were the only early sounds.
As the day progressed I did laundry. David did engine work and order new parts for upgrade. I did laundry which was one washer and one dryer in a novelty store about a block away. Laundry took forever. David took another shower...a luxury - 2 in less than 24 hours. Chatted with Pete on "Esprit" and Tom, Lynda Jean (and Ted the dog) on "Lynda Jean". Kitty slept.
Post laundry we started our planned walk about town, with dripping ice cream cones. A car stopped us in a crosswalk and a man leaned out to say "Are you taking the old man on a walk?" David and I assumed it was Ralph, our boat broker friend from last night. Nope. This was Paul who after asking a few questions wondered if we wanted a driving tour of Crooked River. "Sure." So off we went for nearly 2 hours (rather than the 15 min he initially offered). It was fun. It was interesting. It was a little weird.We saw houses, large and small, viewed his garage from the car (it was arranged with some many and varied souvenirs), went to the State park nature center and saw a baby alligator and several snakes (great chat with the 3 teenage young men who worked there). Paul talked non-stop and told wonderfully funny stories and jokes. Never shared air time, though, so entertain as he/it was the tour became tiring. No exchange, only monologue. Finally, we impressed upon him that we needed to get back to our boat and he complied...after one more detour. David and I, reviewing the event...the kidnapping...both admitted that there were moments when we thought "He is taking us out into the swamp to murder us and take our credit cards." But he didn't. An odd and interesting man, musician/ music educator/singer with a wonderful bass voice. He played a professional recording of his singing and one of a student of his. Beautiful. He lacked the social grace of sharing - conversation - different from "the entertainer" monologue. Hmmmm.
We left for Cumberland Island, a bit of a backtrack but it has been so recommended as a "not to be missed beauty", arriving around 1530. Lounged around and waited for John and Darlene to return from their Island adventures, share a drink at our boat and hear what we shouldn't miss tomorrow. Secure anchorage, dinner and I'm off to bed after my four hour nap in the saloon.
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| Sorry to miss an in-person wish and celebration |
As the day progressed I did laundry. David did engine work and order new parts for upgrade. I did laundry which was one washer and one dryer in a novelty store about a block away. Laundry took forever. David took another shower...a luxury - 2 in less than 24 hours. Chatted with Pete on "Esprit" and Tom, Lynda Jean (and Ted the dog) on "Lynda Jean". Kitty slept.
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| Amelia beating the heat |
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| Charmer. Think this is a Milk Snake |
Friday, December 11, 2015
12/10/15 Thursday St Mary's
We're in renowned St Mary's, GA, tonight after an early start but fairly gentle day on the water.
St Mary's is known among snow birders up and down the eastern seaboard for its Thanksgiving welcome to cruisers. Even before we left Maine sailors were saying, "Be sure you are in St Mary's for Thanksgiving." (We weren't but...) Apparently LOTS of boats arrive here and the townspeople lay out an amazing lunch/dinner spread and open there arms, hearts and kitchens to the watery visitors, maybe land-based visitors, too. I don't know. Our friend here said there were about 240+ boats in the harbor this year past.
While the people and the welcome is terrific the marine facilities are sadly lacking - rough, run down and totally without pride of ownership. The reviews on Active Captain were so negative that David and I'd decided to not make the 3 mile trip up river to visit. But dockage is cheap and there is a shower (though not the cleanest with more cobwebs and mold than I've seen on the trip thus far.) But David got in touch with Ralph Tolbot (sp?) who nearly sold us a Nauticat a number of years ago. David and he had such a good connection then and David wanted to meet him. (David is way better at making and keeping connections than I am.) Ralph would "love to meet and see our boat" and offered to take us to the grocery store to re-provision. Deal, and a good one, too. Ralph is delightful and interesting... and he complimented our boat! Groceries procured, we had a delicious Greek dinner at the Riverside Cafe on the main waterfront street. And chatted with the owner's brother, a Greek national who grew up in Yonkers, NY. We delighted him with our 3 phrases of Greek language...Hello, how are you, goodnight...and hand gesture greeting that we see our friends, Irwin and Mary, use.
A highlight of our journey today was the all-white pelicans who sat in trees, floated in the water in front of us and made daring dives straight into the water, long beaks first. Splash!
And, a dolphin flipped its fluke at us. I'm taking that as a "hi, how are ya?" wave and not the finger. David and I traded helms person and navigation responsibilities. Since we were kind of in the ocean between Jeykll and Cumberland Islands we toyed with the idea of "going out" on the ocean side of Cumberland Is. to St. Mary's River inlet. No. We'd not studied that route and even though really calm no need to be less than our best careful selves. Besides, we really wanted to get to shower and grocery store. Priorities, people.
We'll do laundry tomorrow morning and have a little walk about to see town which was highly decorated for Christmas when we drove back after dark from grocery shopping. Maybe we'll anchor out at Cumberland Island and go ashore for another beach walk (and see John and Darlene there), then on to Fernandina Beach, FLORIDA, for the weekend perhaps to see Dana and Craig.
We're in renowned St Mary's, GA, tonight after an early start but fairly gentle day on the water.
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| Out before sunrise and under the bridge leaving Brunswick, GA Home of Brunswick Stew. My grandma Richey made wonderful stew! |
While the people and the welcome is terrific the marine facilities are sadly lacking - rough, run down and totally without pride of ownership. The reviews on Active Captain were so negative that David and I'd decided to not make the 3 mile trip up river to visit. But dockage is cheap and there is a shower (though not the cleanest with more cobwebs and mold than I've seen on the trip thus far.) But David got in touch with Ralph Tolbot (sp?) who nearly sold us a Nauticat a number of years ago. David and he had such a good connection then and David wanted to meet him. (David is way better at making and keeping connections than I am.) Ralph would "love to meet and see our boat" and offered to take us to the grocery store to re-provision. Deal, and a good one, too. Ralph is delightful and interesting... and he complimented our boat! Groceries procured, we had a delicious Greek dinner at the Riverside Cafe on the main waterfront street. And chatted with the owner's brother, a Greek national who grew up in Yonkers, NY. We delighted him with our 3 phrases of Greek language...Hello, how are you, goodnight...and hand gesture greeting that we see our friends, Irwin and Mary, use.
A highlight of our journey today was the all-white pelicans who sat in trees, floated in the water in front of us and made daring dives straight into the water, long beaks first. Splash!
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| The dots on the beach are white pelicans |
We'll do laundry tomorrow morning and have a little walk about to see town which was highly decorated for Christmas when we drove back after dark from grocery shopping. Maybe we'll anchor out at Cumberland Island and go ashore for another beach walk (and see John and Darlene there), then on to Fernandina Beach, FLORIDA, for the weekend perhaps to see Dana and Craig.
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| "You woke me up...for what??? |
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
12/9/15 Wednesday
Making love while Waiting for the Tide to Change - the title of a book? Metaphors? Which? Making love? or Waiting for the Tide to change? Making love is always a pleasure. But there is something intriguing about "waiting for the tide to change." The tide always changes but there is the waiting.
Another book title possibility - Starboard of the Magenta Line. The magenta line on the chart is, supposedly, the best (aka deepest!) water in the ICW. This is not always the case. Often there are instructions in Active Captain or other interactive sites to stay one side or the other of the magenta line. Or when I get really nervous about the lack of depth I'll noodle around to see if there is deeper water a little to the left or right of that sweet line. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Walk (navigate) the line!
And then there is the idea David and I've been kicking around about a children's book about a pirate alligator (with a patch over one eye, of course) who steals dinghies, chomping the painter and making off with them in the night or when the sailors are making love while waiting for the tide to change. Clearly the alligator must sell the dinghies but the proceeds must help someone, not just greed. Not sure who/what the someone (something) could be. Suggestions, please?
We're "on the hook" for a 4th night (can you smell us?), this time around the corner from Brunswick, GA, at Lanier Island. After 3 nights in the boonies - the lovely, quiet, rural boonies with bright stars overhead (or rain clouds but, hey!) - we're next to a city again. Kitty is distressed by the road noise and helicopters overhead. Her humans are noticing the road noise, similar but not the same as the white noise of the ocean surf, and the lights of the bridges and cars. Fewer stars tonight.
Sitting in the warm darkness, post dinner, as the night fell we were thinking about first memories of being around/on water or at the beach. Then another round of remembering the most memorable times of being on the beach or water. I was at the beach really a lot from early childhood but my memories are from about 8 years old, going to the Outer Banks of NC fishing. Earliest was living for a week's fishing vacation in a little one room... shack, really, right on the beach with my mom and dad and two other couples...falling asleep to the sound of the surf, cooking and refrigerating with propane (a first for me but, of course, I didn't cook). Privacy was an interesting challenge as it was really limited. Shower on the "porch" just outside the kitchen area of the one room. There was a 2nd room which was the "garage" where the "dune buggy" - the island car - was stored...and un-stored to turn the garage into additional sleeping quarters. I cannot remember, exactly, the sleeping arrangements except that I was the only child so got my own bed. Think Mom and Dad slept in the "one room" with me and others shared the garage. Roughing it, for sure.
David is distressed that often there isn't easy access to food stores along the waterway and that there is no "indicator" in the Active Captain information for food stores. We have to rely on the "comments" section or our google search. It IS a challenge. And we're getting bored with our current food selections. We might have to eat Nabs - those peanut butter or cheese crackers that come in orange or yellow colors, our meals for the next two days. That is a total exaggeration. We are not starving nor are we without food options on board.
I grow impatient with David's engineer mind, always thinking about the better way or fixing so that the thing functions better...or at least talking about how to make it better. Somewhere I learned to "make do", "live with what is available". It's tiring always looking for how to improve, make stuff better or easier. Just buck up and do the work or like and appreciate what you/I have. But then when he suggested I use the winch to haul the sail in, rather than totally straining my back, I thought his engineering mind was a good idea. His "make it better" attitude and my "make do with how it is" attitude do create friction and snarky comments sometimes. And then we each have to go to another room....or hug....or snarl...or sigh heavily...or just ignore. Ignorance is sometimes as blissful as it gets. We probably balance each other pretty well.
Today we had a wonderful twilight conversation with wine, saw these wonderful sights and waited for the tide to change.
Making love while Waiting for the Tide to Change - the title of a book? Metaphors? Which? Making love? or Waiting for the Tide to change? Making love is always a pleasure. But there is something intriguing about "waiting for the tide to change." The tide always changes but there is the waiting.
Another book title possibility - Starboard of the Magenta Line. The magenta line on the chart is, supposedly, the best (aka deepest!) water in the ICW. This is not always the case. Often there are instructions in Active Captain or other interactive sites to stay one side or the other of the magenta line. Or when I get really nervous about the lack of depth I'll noodle around to see if there is deeper water a little to the left or right of that sweet line. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Walk (navigate) the line!
And then there is the idea David and I've been kicking around about a children's book about a pirate alligator (with a patch over one eye, of course) who steals dinghies, chomping the painter and making off with them in the night or when the sailors are making love while waiting for the tide to change. Clearly the alligator must sell the dinghies but the proceeds must help someone, not just greed. Not sure who/what the someone (something) could be. Suggestions, please?
We're "on the hook" for a 4th night (can you smell us?), this time around the corner from Brunswick, GA, at Lanier Island. After 3 nights in the boonies - the lovely, quiet, rural boonies with bright stars overhead (or rain clouds but, hey!) - we're next to a city again. Kitty is distressed by the road noise and helicopters overhead. Her humans are noticing the road noise, similar but not the same as the white noise of the ocean surf, and the lights of the bridges and cars. Fewer stars tonight.
Sitting in the warm darkness, post dinner, as the night fell we were thinking about first memories of being around/on water or at the beach. Then another round of remembering the most memorable times of being on the beach or water. I was at the beach really a lot from early childhood but my memories are from about 8 years old, going to the Outer Banks of NC fishing. Earliest was living for a week's fishing vacation in a little one room... shack, really, right on the beach with my mom and dad and two other couples...falling asleep to the sound of the surf, cooking and refrigerating with propane (a first for me but, of course, I didn't cook). Privacy was an interesting challenge as it was really limited. Shower on the "porch" just outside the kitchen area of the one room. There was a 2nd room which was the "garage" where the "dune buggy" - the island car - was stored...and un-stored to turn the garage into additional sleeping quarters. I cannot remember, exactly, the sleeping arrangements except that I was the only child so got my own bed. Think Mom and Dad slept in the "one room" with me and others shared the garage. Roughing it, for sure.
David is distressed that often there isn't easy access to food stores along the waterway and that there is no "indicator" in the Active Captain information for food stores. We have to rely on the "comments" section or our google search. It IS a challenge. And we're getting bored with our current food selections. We might have to eat Nabs - those peanut butter or cheese crackers that come in orange or yellow colors, our meals for the next two days. That is a total exaggeration. We are not starving nor are we without food options on board.
I grow impatient with David's engineer mind, always thinking about the better way or fixing so that the thing functions better...or at least talking about how to make it better. Somewhere I learned to "make do", "live with what is available". It's tiring always looking for how to improve, make stuff better or easier. Just buck up and do the work or like and appreciate what you/I have. But then when he suggested I use the winch to haul the sail in, rather than totally straining my back, I thought his engineering mind was a good idea. His "make it better" attitude and my "make do with how it is" attitude do create friction and snarky comments sometimes. And then we each have to go to another room....or hug....or snarl...or sigh heavily...or just ignore. Ignorance is sometimes as blissful as it gets. We probably balance each other pretty well.
Today we had a wonderful twilight conversation with wine, saw these wonderful sights and waited for the tide to change.
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| Left Sapelo Island just past high tide |
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| Trees full of white spots..... |
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| ...are snowy egrets and pelicans |
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
11/8/15 Tuesday
We decided to stay at anchor today and take a look at Sapelo Island, GA. Waved goodbye to our friends on R Dream, our Nova Scotia buddies, as they and Dana and Craig (both couples we met in Charleston) motored down river and safely into the next leg of their journey. Hopefully, we'll meet up again in a couple of days a little farther south.
David and I had pancakes for breakfast, packed our backpacks, loaded his bike on the dinghy and motored into the ferry landing. We called Cornelia to find an extra bike for me. She called Ken but couldn't find him (Ken rents bikes) so she sent her husband, Jules, to look for him. I told her we'd start walking in her direction.
So I walked and David rode...it IS his bike. It was SO beautiful. Bright sunny day, gentle breeze, no bugs, no sweat. We did slather ourselves with sun screen, though.
Richard J. Reynolds, of the tobacco company in Winston-Salem, NC, owned the island from the 1930s (I think) until the early 1960s. So there is a Reynolda Manor (South), and restored and updated plantation.
We've met some very kind people along our way today. Cornelia's husband finally found us (and Ken, too?) along our way. He drove to get us a bike. Not sure what Ken was doing. Some young man gave David a ride to the next intersection and I rode the bike. Later in the day we re-met Yvonne, the Interpretive Guide from yesterday whose husband might have given us a private (less expensive) island tour had we been able to reach them soon enough this morning. Yvonne told me that when they are in the village (farther away from the mainland) the cell reception is lousy so she didn't get my text message until too late to accommodate us. We were totally happy on foot and on bike(s) though. Yvonne had about 19 people on her tour. She works for the State of Georgia giving tours of the island.
Made it to the beach which was expansive with shallow waves breaking in layers from shore to about 30 yards out.
We ran into Yvonne again. She loaded our bikes into her pick-up and gave us a ride to Hog Hammock (the village, don't know about the name), to Cornelia's store. It was closed but Yvonne opened it for us and we bought ice cream and Cornelia's book, a history of the island and of Gullah/Geechee culture. Then Yvonne took us to our side of the island - her office is over here/there - and dropped us off so we wouldn't have so far to bike to the ferry dock.
Again we were riding through flat, wetlands with moss laden trees or long leaf pines on a one lane paved road. Quiet. Slow. Wonder-full. We arrived back at the ferry dock where the two men we talked w/this morning were still fishing. They'd come over from the mainland on the ferry and would be going back in another half hour...on the ferry.
I leaned my rented bike on the rail as instructed and David and I loaded his bike in the dinghy and boat home we went in time to watch the sun set.
Joy!
We decided to stay at anchor today and take a look at Sapelo Island, GA. Waved goodbye to our friends on R Dream, our Nova Scotia buddies, as they and Dana and Craig (both couples we met in Charleston) motored down river and safely into the next leg of their journey. Hopefully, we'll meet up again in a couple of days a little farther south.
David and I had pancakes for breakfast, packed our backpacks, loaded his bike on the dinghy and motored into the ferry landing. We called Cornelia to find an extra bike for me. She called Ken but couldn't find him (Ken rents bikes) so she sent her husband, Jules, to look for him. I told her we'd start walking in her direction.
So I walked and David rode...it IS his bike. It was SO beautiful. Bright sunny day, gentle breeze, no bugs, no sweat. We did slather ourselves with sun screen, though.
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| On the plantation rounds |
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| Sun struck |
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| Side entrance w/reindeer on the lawn for Christmas |
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| Front door - sign says "Welcome" |
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| Entrance plaza w/pool - the front door is behind me |
Made it to the beach which was expansive with shallow waves breaking in layers from shore to about 30 yards out.
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| Waded in the warm Atlantic ocean |
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| Wary resident - check out the shadow! |
Again we were riding through flat, wetlands with moss laden trees or long leaf pines on a one lane paved road. Quiet. Slow. Wonder-full. We arrived back at the ferry dock where the two men we talked w/this morning were still fishing. They'd come over from the mainland on the ferry and would be going back in another half hour...on the ferry.
I leaned my rented bike on the rail as instructed and David and I loaded his bike in the dinghy and boat home we went in time to watch the sun set.
Joy!
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| Loving the beach...and each other |
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