Saturday,
November 29, 2014. We spent the day
doing a bit of sight seeing, shopping and watching college football, which a
major past time at my sister Liz’s.
Dinner was left overs from Thanksgiving, which were great the second
time around. Mom continues to get a bit
better each day and she now wants to know why we are there and not back on the
boat.
Sunday, November
30, 2014. We left my sisters and
drove over to New Orleans. I grew up
there, but in all the time Lisa and I have been married, most of the trips here
have been to see family. We stay at the
Ponchartrain Hotel on St. Charles and called Tony and Tess Marts
(Endurance). They have taken an
apartment here as their son and his wife have recently had the first grandchild
and Tess is providing child care. They
are really enjoying New Orleans and their apartment is on Prytania St about 5
blocks from where I grew up. We had a
late brunch at Superior Seafood on the corner of Napoleon and St. Charles and
then we retired to the hotel. We met
Tony and Tess again about 7pm and went to Chickie Wah Wahs on Canal Street to
see/hear Sleepy LeBeef. What a
hoot! Everyone had a great time! Check this out www.sleepylabeef.com and http://www.chickiewahwah.com/
Monday,
December 1, 2014. Lisa and I had
breakfast at the Trolley Stop Café and then went to see something called EIFFEL
across the street from the hotel. Turns
out this is the restaurant that was atop the Eiffel Tower in Paris and was
disassembled and brought to New Orleans for the World’s Fair. It is now used as a function facility. Very cool! http://www.neworleans.com/nightlife/eiffel-society/
We took the street car (aka trolley) to Canal Street
and spent the afternoon having lunch at the Café du Monde Cafe listening to New
Orleans blues music, then some shopping in the open air French Market. We dined at the Caribbean Room in the Ponchartrain
(soft-shell crab and crab cakes) and then met Tony and Tess. They had obtained tickets to see Mellissa
Ethridge at the renovated Saenger Theatre on Canal Street. http://www.saengernola.com/info/restoration
It was a great
concert, but LOUD! Afterward, we went to
Frenchman Street just north of the Quarter and visited Bomboulas and The Maison
to listen to New Orleans blues. There
was a 10 piece jazz band playing on the sidewalk on the corner or Frenchman and
Treasure St.! Nice! A late night, especially for us boaters! And
Tess had baby care duty in the morning! http://frenchmenstreetlive.com/events-2/
Tuesday,
December 2, 2014. We depart the
hotel at 8am and head back to Diamondhead, MS, to check on Mom. She has a doctor appointment with her cardiologist,
so we wait for her and my sister Patricia (aka Tricia) to get home. The
doctor’s report is good and at 4pm we depart headed back to the boat in
Brunswick. We stopped just outside
Tallahasse for the night at a refurbished Quality Inn. Nice room and free breakfast for $69!
Wednesday,
December 3, 2014. We are on the road
at 9am. It is still about 400 miles to
the boat. We arrive at Brunswick Landing
Marina at 4pm.
Thursday,
December 4, 2014. Today is spent
running errands (groceries, propane, West Marine, Walmart, etc.). Dinner on board.
Friday,
December 5, 2014. Storm coming. We had hoped to leave tomorrow for St.
Augustine, but winds of 25+ are predicted.
When we first got to the marina, we were told that dockage was on a
daily or monthly basis. Once you are
here a week, you might as well pay for the month, which we did, so there is no
rush to leave other than we would like to get to St. Augustine before we fly
home on Dec. 13.
The boat got a bath inside and out and we returned
the rental car.
Tonight, we had dinner at Basil Thai. The food was good and there was street
entertainment – several bands and the stores all open for “First Friday” (which
is every month).
Saturday,
December 6, 2014. Rain and
clouds. We managed to get the solar
panel all connected. However, it is hard
to tell how well it is working when the batteries are fully charged from
sitting on the charger while we are plugged in to the dock. We will have to set up a “stress test”!
We walked over to Mary Ross Waterfront Park for the
Farmer’s Market. Last time we were here
this was a very small event. Today it is
huge! Lots of vendors (reminds you of
the market on Big Pine Key), plus Santa and lots of kids. We met (once again) Maxine, who does canning
and from whom we bought figs last year.
Hers taste exactly like the ones my Mom used to make. We will order more for Christmas presents.
A walk among the shops and then back to the boat and
showers and laundry. People we know who
are in St. Augustine or Fernandina say it is blowing a gale and very rough in
the anchorages and mooring fields.
Dinner tonight at Fox’s Pizza – this may be the best
pizza anywhere! There is a boat parade
and bands playing Christmas Carols in town.
Nice evening, but a bit cold.
However, we are not getting the wind here that they are getting just a
few miles south.
Sunday,
December 7, 2014. Weather
deteriorating. Good day to relax and
sleep in. Dinner on board.
Monday,
December 8, 2014. Clouds breaking,
but the wind just won’t give up. Cleaned
out the aft cabin and by the afternoon, the weather is improving and the wind
seems to be calming. We walked into town
and had burgers and nachos at Tipsy McSwazsey’s. Food was OK and the beer was good. Hopefully we can leave in the morning and
resume the trek south.
Tuesday,
Decmber 9, 2014. Finally! Off the
dock and headed south at 8:10am.
Beautiful morning, but cold (45 degrees) and the wind is NW and
freshening (15+). However, we are inside
for the majority of the trip down to Fernandina Beach. Wind and tide are opposed out in St. Simmon’s
Sound and it a bit bumpy. Once inside
Jekyll Creek (without hitting our jetty!), nice and smooth. 11am, the sun is out, wind still NW 15+. We are passed half tide (it is falling), so
we elect to stop at Fernandina Beach (Amelia Island). We don’t want to try the skinny water south
of here with the tide going to low (tides are 6 feet here). 2:00pm tied to the
inside of the face dock at Fernandina Marina.
Sunny, 55 degrees, wind still NW at 15+.
We walked all through the town, which we had only partially
done on previous trips. Pretty
place. Dinner on board, but dessert and
a glass of wine at Brett’s Waterway Café right at the foot of Centre Street at
the Harbor. Very nice. Early to bed so make the rising tide in the
morning and try to get all the way to St. Augustine,
41.5SM, 33.2NM
today. MM717. 30°40.22’N
081°27.98’W
Wednesday,
December 10, 2014. We are off the
dock at @7:45am. Sunny, 45 degrees, but
the wind has died down to less than 10.
Checking the weather, there is not 10 degrees difference all the way to
NH. Brrrrrrr! We made it through the skinny water OK. Stayed
to the right between Red16 and Red18 and then went directly from Red18 to
Green1. Then stayed east of the Greens
between Green1 and Green3. We were
fairly close to shore, but never saw less than 12 feet of water. It is mid-tide and it is running with us. We had a fair tide all the way to MM
750. Saw lots of white pelicans and
porpoises too.
2:25pm, we saw 4 Customs and Immigration boats
playing in the Tolomato River. These are
like open sport fishing boats with 4 300 horse outboards on the back. Your tax dollars at work! We saw 3 Customs Patrol Boats that look like
those Navy boats we saw when going through Camp Lejeune. We also saw more of both types of craft tied
up in the San Sebastian River.
We made the 3:30 opening at the Bridge of Lyons (St.
Augustine) and are tied up at Rivers Edge Marina (san Sebastian River) at 4:14pm. 67 Statute Miles (53.6NM) in 9 hours and one
scheduled bridge (that we had to wait for).
Not a bad day on the water.
Dinner on board tonight.
29° 53.14’N
081°19.33’W
Thursday,
December 11, 2014. Chris from Hansen Marine showed up today to check out
our A/C units. They are actually heat
pumps, cooling and heating. There are two on board. One has two air handlers (aft cabin and main
salon), and the other is a single unit for the forward cabin and head. The
compressor had a loose fitting which was rattling and all three air handlers
needed filters cleaned (not done since we purchased Rhiannon – who knew?). All working like champs now.
Pot luck dinner at the cabana tonight. A camp fire too. Nice gathering, but it is cold and the get
together is short.
Friday,
December 12, 2014. Today, we got
showers, did laundry, gave the boat a bath, removed all perishables – donated them
to the “common” refrigerator at the marina and generally got the boat ready for
its 6 week wait while we go home for the holidays. Dinner at Hurricane Patty’s.
Saturday,
December 13, 2014. Up at
5:00am. Taxi came for us at 5:45 to take
us to the plane in Jacksonville. Home in
NH by 2:00pm.
