Beaufort, SC, to Palm Coast. FL

We left Beaufort and were underway early, again by 7. Georgia is so pretty to cruise through. Other states have these nice direct many man-made canals to pass through. Georgia, on the other hand, takes maximum use of the natural waterways that exist in the state. As a result, you don't "cruise through" the state, so much as "meander through" the state.

We arrived mid afternoon at Delegal Creek Marina and met our friend Mark who lives on Skidaway Island on the dock. We had a lovely chance to catch up with Mark and Shirley over dinner at one of their Island Clubs. Good food with great friends always makes for a pleasant evening!

We were up and underway Tuesday again at 7 in the morning. We expected to run into some of the rain and wind from Ida during that day. So the Captain sped us up to 10 knots from our usual 8-9 knot cruising speed. The rain met us at 11:45, making visibility difficult.

Luckily, the rain stopped before we got to Brunswick for our fuel stop and to spend the night at the Municipal Marina.

We walked to a great restaurant in town that we enjoyed so much last spring that had been recommended to us by Mac and Shirley on Cat's Paw last year. The restaurant is Cargo's Portside Grill and they did not disappoint us again this year.

After dinner we arranged to have a cab take us to a location in Brunswick, right off 95 where the Tea Party Express was due to stop at 7:30 that evening. Along with several hundred folks, we the presentations by the Tea Party group along with some music. I was so happy it stopped raining through the whole event that evening. The Tea Party Express had made two other stops that day, the first in Augusta, GA, and Beaufort, SC, then in Brunswick. They have just one more day on this tour.


Me, in front of the Tea Party Express bus


Musical entertainment provided by the Tea Party

Bob had us underway again by 7. So far, the rain has stopped, but it is still overcast making the world around us monochromatic. We are expecting winds to pick up to a possible 25 mph.


Passed this interesting wooden sailboat near Kings Bay. At least they had built a nice enclosed cabin.

We passed Kings Bay Naval Base in Georgia. The mission of this base is to maintain submarines. They have two huge buildings that you can see for miles and this funny looking birdcage like structure where they do deguassing (to reduce the ships magnetic signature).


The "Bird Cage"


Two sub maintenance buildings at Kings Bay that you can see for miles. Sorry it wasn't a nice clear day.

We then passed Fernandina, Florida. This may be the first time we haven't stopped here for the night. Since it was only 11:30, we pressed on.

By early afternoon, the sun peeked through the clouds slowly turning the work back to technicolor.


We decided to let this guys cross in front of us in Jacksonville, FL

We anchored for the night at 5 - late for us. Bob picked an anchorage off the ICW that already had 5 sailboats and a large trawler. In the morning it is my job to wash the anchor chain as it comes into the boat. At this anchorage the chain and anchor was buried in plain thick mud! What a mess! I deserved a really big cup of coffee when I got done. My feet and hands were freezing.


Two porpoises followed us to the anchorage - do you have any idea how hard it is to try and capture a porpoise when it surfaces? There are two fins here anyway.

We have been very unhappy with our generator. It is a Westerbeke and it has broken down umpteen times each cruising season and every time it fails, it is a different problem. I'm beginning to think it is haunted. So, we thought we should add some levity to the situation and give the darn thing an appropriate name. This is what we've come up with so far, Buck-Buck, Broke Beek, and Wicked Westy. We'll take a look at all other contributions anyone has to offer for a nick-name for the machine too. I think we have finally decided to replace it next summer during our annual maintenance period.

Thursday is overcast and chilly. I've been wrapped up in everything I could possibly wear at one time this morning, feeling a little like Heidi. I finally put my hand warmer in the Microwave and that is helping.

We arrived at Palm Coast Marina at 11:30 today and expect to remain here for a few days while we have engine maintenance and the generator fixed. At least, with shore power now, I have heat, and I am happy! The Captain will tell you, that when the Admiral ain't happy, nobody's happy.