THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY

We are finally in sunny Florida. Never mind that we are just over the border. It was cold when we left Brunswick and the wind on the open water heightened the effect.

Long johns and winter jackets may seem out of place in Florida, but . . . The sun is shining and we are headed in the right direction. We left Brunswick and 8 hours later arrived at Fernandina Beach.

Our sojourn in Brunswick was chilly, but nonetheless wonderful. Our final bit of sight-seeing took us to Jekyll Island.

Jekyll is completely magical. It was the winter “camp” of the wealthiest people in the US. They had formed the Jekyll Island Club in order to buy the island and to guarantee their exclusivity. When they congregated there to escape the northern winter, fully one sixth of the world’s wealth was gathered there.

Today, their modest “camp homes” are the showcase of the island. They are simple dwellings, the smallest of which has 8500 square feet of living space. Roughing it, indeed! The live oaks festooned with Spanish moss provide a fairyland ambiance.

Thanksgiving brought another of Brunswick Landing Marina’s terrific parties/feasts. Turkey, ham, all the fixins.

 Since beginning this blog entry, we have covered another 231 nautical miles. We left Fernandina Beach for the easy sail down to the St John’s river where we stayed at Mayport. There is nothing to do there, but it’s a good place to stop and break the trip into smaller segments. Being on the face dock, however, is no fun. Traffic kicks up a lot of wake in the river and when the wind is opposed to the tidal current it is rough. But, it’s just for the night.

So far the trip has been benign. Small, one foot seas, gentle swells about 12 seconds apart provided a smooth ride. Light winds from the East made it possible to motor sail and we made good time. The long hop, 200 miles, from Mayport to Ft Pierce started out under the same conditions. The sun set on calm seas and light winds. Sunrise the next morning saw a dramatic shift in the wind to the North and an even more dramatic shift in the sea state. We were now battling 4 to 6 foot waves that came on our stern quarter every 4 seconds. Otto (our auto-pilot) wouldn’t hold so it became necessary to hand steer. The next 12 hours or so were just plain hard work. Kathleen said it was fun and the waves were exciting. She wasn’t steering.

 She did get her first "boat bites."  She says they're badges of honor.

So, yet another night time arrival at Ft Pierce. I don’t know what I would do if I arrived there in the daylight. The marina office was closed so there was no one to help with the lines. Our docking at the fuel dock was flawless and we congratulated ourselves with a celebratory rum for a successful 36 hour passage and promptly went to bed.

Aaaah! I can almost feel the warm sun of South Florida. We’ve been stuck in Brunswick for far too long. The weather has been cold and the winds have been out of the North for the past week. But, a bad day on the water is better than a good day anywhere else. Finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel or sunshine and good weather on the horizon. First a quick hop down to Fernandina Beach then . . . ? Before long, Ft Lauderdale and Miami and the Bahamas. Oh! Did I say, “We?” Meet my first mate, Kathleen.

We’ve spent the past week or two like tourists. We’ve been to St Augustine and I didn’t even go into Sailors’ Exchange! We did have a fine lunch amidst the pigeons at the Conch House

and drank from the Fountain of Youth where we walked with the peacocks. We’ve admired the beautiful live oaks and Spanish Moss on St Simon’s Island.

A visit to Jekyll Island is on the calendar as long as we are stuck in Brunswick. Naturally, Dock 6 has provided ample friendship and the Happy Hour, while sometimes a bit chilly, was none the less happy. Barbara and Manfred on s/v Balimar celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary and provided champagne and assorted nibbles. The weather, for a change, cooperated with sunshine. We are looking forward to seeing our friends in locales further south.

Here is the view from my kitchen window just a couple of days ago. Cool weather has finally arrived in South Central Kentucky. It was 33 degrees here this morning. No hard freeze yet, but soon. I hope to be out of here before that happens. Southern Florida, here I come. I will gladly trade the deer for this.