Blue Heaven Rendezvous #33
I finally finished my “Stars, Moon and Sun” hooked rug that I designed and started a year ago. The majority was done on this trip and I just had to show it off especially for my rug hooking friends who follow this blog.
This week we
left Titusville, Fl and are now in the wilds of Georgia. We anchored off of Daytona and then off of St. Augustine Municipal Marina. We never went in at Daytona, but did go ashore in St. Augustine to walk around the old section of the city. We saw the oldest Catholic Church in the US, Basilica of St. Augustine, which is from the 1500’s. The Spanish influence could definitely be seen with the black and red ceilings trimmed in gold. The one man band who played on one of the side streets was a interesting character also.
When motor sailing from St. Augustine to Fernandina in the ocean it was not a very comfortable ride due to being rocked side to side by the waves. I could not wait to get in, but we had to have some excitement first. We were getting close to St. John’s inlet when all of a sudden we heard a siren and saw a boat with flashing lights come zooming toward us with a soldier with a gun on the bow. By microphone they instructed us to maintain our course and to stay away 500 yards from the navy ship. As if we planned to go anywhere near it! Why they had to scare us half to death, to tell us to maintain course is beyond me! I guess they just were bored and wanted something to do.
We got into Fernandina and the moorings were full so we had to anchor near the mooring field. We took the dinghy ashore and went to Arte’s Pizza. We had tried their wood oven baked pizza and sangria on the trip down and returned once more to satisfy our craving for pizza.
The next day we planned to leave but predictions of gusty storms deterred us to stay another day. We actually got to sleep in to 7:30am. What a treat! We were in slow mode that morning puttering around the boat which was good, because around 10am we had a blast of heavy wind and rain. It did not last too long and then the sun broke through the clouds. We went ashore to walk several miles for some exercise and to see more of the town. It looked threatening but nothing more developed. Out on the marina dock we sa
w some people who had gone to the Bahamas that we had met on the way down in Charleston. We chatted with them awhile and then went to the seafood market next to the marina for some fresh shrimp for dinner. With that shrimp we also had another wonderful sunset!
Our sailing buddies from Saltaire who went to the west coast with us showed up for fueling at the dock at Fernandina. We were hoping to get together; however, they had to keep moving because they needed the high tide to get to the marina where they were taking their boat to store it until next winter.
We motored to Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, GA the following day where we planned to stay for two days. We got our bikes out to see a bit of the town and then did laundry at their FREE laundry at the marina. That is a first; to be able to do laundry for free!
Then next day we biked to the grocery store to restock. We connected with some high school friends of Al’s, Shirley and Tony Guthrie, who live on St. Simon Island not far from Brunswick. Unfortunately Tony works in Atlanta during the week, but Shirley and her friend, Pam, came to see our boat and to take us on a tour of St, Simon, and Sea Island. Both places were extremely nice and were told that a lot of “trust fund babies” have homes here. We ended the evening going to a wonderful restaurant own by Shirley’s daughter and son-in-law. The seafood was fantastic as well as the company.
We left the next morning at 7am in a bit of fog which lifted after an hour or so, no
t causing any problems. We did not get to the anchorage until about 4:30pm, motoring 95% of the time. Georgia consists of marsh grasses, coarse white
sandy beaches, 8 foot tides, mud flats, lots of current, birds and insects. We anchored in the boon docks of Georgia at the “prettiest anchorage of Georgia” on the Wahoo River as described by the writer of the cruising guide. However, the no-see-ums were horrendous so we did not get to enjoy the sights because we had to go below to save our bodies! Now we understand why a lot of people try to go the ocean route and by-pass Georgia. Next stop; will be somewhere in South Carolina.
I finally finished my “Stars, Moon and Sun” hooked rug that I designed and started a year ago. The majority was done on this trip and I just had to show it off especially for my rug hooking friends who follow this blog.
This week we
left Titusville, Fl and are now in the wilds of Georgia. We anchored off of Daytona and then off of St. Augustine Municipal Marina. We never went in at Daytona, but did go ashore in St. Augustine to walk around the old section of the city. We saw the oldest Catholic Church in the US, Basilica of St. Augustine, which is from the 1500’s. The Spanish influence could definitely be seen with the black and red ceilings trimmed in gold. The one man band who played on one of the side streets was a interesting character also.When motor sailing from St. Augustine to Fernandina in the ocean it was not a very comfortable ride due to being rocked side to side by the waves. I could not wait to get in, but we had to have some excitement first. We were getting close to St. John’s inlet when all of a sudden we heard a siren and saw a boat with flashing lights come zooming toward us with a soldier with a gun on the bow. By microphone they instructed us to maintain our course and to stay away 500 yards from the navy ship. As if we planned to go anywhere near it! Why they had to scare us half to death, to tell us to maintain course is beyond me! I guess they just were bored and wanted something to do.
We got into Fernandina and the moorings were full so we had to anchor near the mooring field. We took the dinghy ashore and went to Arte’s Pizza. We had tried their wood oven baked pizza and sangria on the trip down and returned once more to satisfy our craving for pizza.
The next day we planned to leave but predictions of gusty storms deterred us to stay another day. We actually got to sleep in to 7:30am. What a treat! We were in slow mode that morning puttering around the boat which was good, because around 10am we had a blast of heavy wind and rain. It did not last too long and then the sun broke through the clouds. We went ashore to walk several miles for some exercise and to see more of the town. It looked threatening but nothing more developed. Out on the marina dock we sa
w some people who had gone to the Bahamas that we had met on the way down in Charleston. We chatted with them awhile and then went to the seafood market next to the marina for some fresh shrimp for dinner. With that shrimp we also had another wonderful sunset!Our sailing buddies from Saltaire who went to the west coast with us showed up for fueling at the dock at Fernandina. We were hoping to get together; however, they had to keep moving because they needed the high tide to get to the marina where they were taking their boat to store it until next winter.
We motored to Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, GA the following day where we planned to stay for two days. We got our bikes out to see a bit of the town and then did laundry at their FREE laundry at the marina. That is a first; to be able to do laundry for free!
Then next day we biked to the grocery store to restock. We connected with some high school friends of Al’s, Shirley and Tony Guthrie, who live on St. Simon Island not far from Brunswick. Unfortunately Tony works in Atlanta during the week, but Shirley and her friend, Pam, came to see our boat and to take us on a tour of St, Simon, and Sea Island. Both places were extremely nice and were told that a lot of “trust fund babies” have homes here. We ended the evening going to a wonderful restaurant own by Shirley’s daughter and son-in-law. The seafood was fantastic as well as the company.
We left the next morning at 7am in a bit of fog which lifted after an hour or so, no
t causing any problems. We did not get to the anchorage until about 4:30pm, motoring 95% of the time. Georgia consists of marsh grasses, coarse white
sandy beaches, 8 foot tides, mud flats, lots of current, birds and insects. We anchored in the boon docks of Georgia at the “prettiest anchorage of Georgia” on the Wahoo River as described by the writer of the cruising guide. However, the no-see-ums were horrendous so we did not get to enjoy the sights because we had to go below to save our bodies! Now we understand why a lot of people try to go the ocean route and by-pass Georgia. Next stop; will be somewhere in South Carolina. 
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