April 26, 2008 (Saturday)
Pulled the anchor up around 9am and heading to the fuel dock. SD will let us know later if they will make Cumberland or just meet up somewhere on the way out. Got close to the fuel dock & Capt’n O (think he just likes to hear himself yell) has just got mad that a trawler is at the tiny fuel dock. Then after spinning the boat around, said hey that’s not the fuel dock & turned back towards it. Called Lang’s Marina on the VHF to let them know we were headed in & Nate said he would be down to help. Old local guy, super friendly and super nice. Well looks like luck was with us for a change, Nate had another man there that helped & WS slid up beside the fuel dock beautifully, Capt’n did a great job and made it look easy. So took on 32.5 gallons of diesel at the low price $4.09 (sure beats the $5.39 for the last refill) and 8 gallons of gas of the low price of $3.59, AND the best part FREE water, so filled up our tanks. Capt’n had even taken a long shower the day before, knowing we can get water again for free… Now time to get off the dock, hope it goes just as well – sure did – Capt’n backed up on and angle and got WS out of there beautifully… Did a really nice job in a really tough spot for a 42’ boat. So off to Cumberland Island and the winding St. Mary’s river. Didn’t take long until we were getting close to the main channel and cross over to the anchorage by the Island. So went below to fix the chain in the locker – have mentioned before – it has to be re-flaked every time before we anchor – falls into the chain locker in a big stack, then one tiny wave knocks it over, rolls on top of it sell and jams coming out the next time. So, down below with my head in the chain locker and her Capt’n yell sub, hey come up here there’s a sub. Sure enough there was and where was WS, right in the middle of the channel in front if a nuclear sub flying towards us. Hurry up get out of the channel, so trying to get out and can see the leading gun boat racing towards WS, oh great – just got out of the channel (right at a spot that said SHOAL too) and they turned off – had two machine guns one in the front & one in the back with guys manning both of them. So here comes the sub, what a great view – think I’ll take some pictures, so snapping away and one of the two other gun boats heads over and yells – put the camera down Mam (sp???) – well thought about taking their picture, but then thought best when I looked at the two guys with holding the machine guns and literally just dropped it. Capt.’s yelling – did you get any pictures, just said no, so Capt’n O is like what do you mean you didn’t get any just said no. Didn’t want the gunman back over there asking for my camera, knew they wouldn’t but didn’t want to take any chances. Found out later same happened to a big trawler that had passed us on the way, they were up ahead of us & she was taking pictures & got yelled at. Did get a couple good ones, but really wanted that one of the gunboats too – oh well, can see them in the distance on the first one I took, when crossing the channel and the one is racing toward us, but is pretty far off. Okay, so enough excitement for the day – s/h known about that sub – Paul’s son had been working OT all week to get it ready to leave on Sat. Morning… He is crew on it, but wasn’t for this time out – there are six Trident Nuclear subs here – each with two crews that switch off and on. So, over to Cumberland Island & up to where we wanted to anchor – could already see the wild horses on shore & was a nice place. Has really warmed up too since Tuesday, every day has been warmer & today even have a bathing suit on again. Got anchored in a nice spot, made some phone calls (hey, free phone now too!!!) and got the bikes out & ready to go. Dinghied to shore and put the bikes together – now my chain is off. So got that put back on, Capt’n got a trail map & we were set. Started to ride on what was supposed to be a road, but just very, very hard packed sand, which, was now not hard packed due to the lack of rain. Needless to say was very tough on the soft tires of the clown bikes… Mine still stuck in 4th gear, shows 1st, but not 1st & really having a hard time. Just about to give up & Capt’n said he would switch, wow that’s a change. Okay, wasn’t about to pass that one up – so switched and it was a major difference, but still tough to ride. Rode down to the Carnegie estate ruins & over to the ocean. Another bad of horses there with a new foal, didn’t run, but don’t think you could get too close to them. Took tons of pictures then walked the long path to the ocean. Capt’n has to check out the beach everywhere we go, told him he could see it from the water tomorrow, but didn’t buy that one. Was a huge beach, but just a bit spoiled from 4 months in the Bahamas – like no blue water anymore…. Had a very tough time riding back, tired and just couldn’t ride in the sand much longer. Made it back, got the bikes loaded & back to the boat around 3:30pm. Got the bikes put away, Rats hauled up onto WS for the trip tomorrow and got dinner started. Had bought corn on the cob from a local stand & couldn’t wait to eat it. It had been for yesterday’s dinner, but after yesterday’s lunch – no dinner – just had made Nachos for the Capt’n – not hungry at all then. Looked out while dinner was on & thought I saw SD anchored way below. Wasn’t more than 5 minutes later & said they were down there. Okay, so plans are to leave at 6:30 am, we will leave earlier to make it down there etc. Did mention about an alternate plan if the weather turns bad on us or if we are not making good time. To get into Charleston by early morning, have to do 6 knots at the least, not sure if SD can do that under power, they have a bad vibe when revving over 2 grand and don’t really want to until they get it looked at – think it’s the cutlass bearing. So, if we only do 5 knots it will take 33 hours and may put us right in the middle of the really nasty weather, 6 knots will be 27 hours and get us in there around 9am & s/b ahead of the CF. Anyway, have decided to jump off at Beaufort, SC if thing go bad….
April 25, 2008 (Friday)
Trying to get caught up on the log before leaving in a couple minutes. Could hear Mickey barking before & here there are dolphins swimming around. Plans are to head in and meet SD at the dock. They have a car & we will do laundry & shopping today, works for me! Better run, Capt’n getting anxious to go and only 9:15…. Will continue later…
Okay, so now it is later, much later….. Met up with SD at 9:30 on the dinghy dock & headed for the laundry. We both did our laundry, which was wonderful and only $1.75 per washer, which sure beats Marsh Harbour’s $4 per washer… Took about an hour and a half, but not bad for neither of us doing our laundry since Marsh Harbour. After that, took a ride over to Paul & Susan’s son’s place in Kingstown. Was so nice, got to meet Stephanie, their daughter-in-law and their grand kids Nathan and Saylor (4 and 4 months…) both great kids. Really enjoyed the nice change of pace and just loved meeting Stephanie & the kids. After that, went for lunch – ended up at some Chinese buffet that was excellent --- still can’t believe I could eat that much, but at $5.99 per person, didn’t have to eat much to make it worth while esp. after being in the Bahamas for the winter. Then went to the Winn Dixie, boy what a store – they actually had food – cheap… Well $200 later, got tons of food, couple more cases of beer, some decent wine bottles and couple boxed wines – boy, it’s nice to be back in the state. No more rationing the beer & wine – can have as much as I want…. Still needed a couple other things, but will pick them up somewhere else along the way. Did pick up some Southpaw Light Beer, brewed locally and is very good, still didn’t beat the price of the beast, but came close. So, once we had the car loaded down, back to the boats. Loaded up Rats & took all of the goodies back to WS. Put the meat etc away, but wanted to try to get to the sub museum, so left some stuff for later. Raced back in, but Capt’n wanted to go to the fuel dock first & see when w/b a good time to go in to get fuel. SD had went in to refuel when we got to St. Mary’s and had some problems getting tied up to the fuel dock. Seems the tide was not just slack, was still flooding and they were pushed away before Susan could get off & before Nate could get to the stern line. Once I saw the fuel dock, sounded like a nightmare, pretty tight, just can’t turn around – didn’t sound like fun. Nate said early morning is best, w/b on an ebb tide and will just push us up against the fuel dock a bit. Works for WS, want to get refueled early & head over to Cumberland Island for the day. Not sure what SD is up to, but will most likely spend a good portion of the day with the kids etc. So over to the sub museum only to find out they close at 4pm and is now 3:50… oh well. How about a cheap beer – sounds good to me… Somehow got side tracked into a kayak, camp store to look for line. Looked more like a kayak store than anything, no line, but did have one of the small dry bags that we have been looking for, good one too, so bought it. Have two very large ones; work well for just about anything, and esp. for the laundry. One is a very good one & the other is from Wal-mart – like them both, but can tell the Wal-Mart one is nowhere near as good as the other one. Wouldn’t trust it like I do the other. Used to float clothes to shore in it up in Lake Erie when we had little Strangebrew anchored off the backside of Kelly’s Island and no dink. Use the good one as our ditch kit when we are off shore now. Can just grab it if we have to and waterproof… So, after the excursion to the kayak/camp store really needed a beer. So, back to Trolley’s – seems like Capt’n spotted a 2nd level outside deck that looked nice – so that’s where we ended up. Had a huge pitcher of Miller Lite for an amazing price of $7 – jeez couldn’t get two beers in the islands for that price. Great view and could see the mills of Fernandina from there, plus how the St. Mary’s river snakes back & forth. The ICW in Georgia is the same way – snakes back and forth for miles and is very shallow, which is why WS doesn’t do Georgia... It is a lot shorter going on the out side - chart book list 249 mile on the ICS vs. 166 offshore. Kind of a no brainer to wait for a weather window. Which we have right now Thurs – Sunday, with the weather deteriorating Monday – mild CF moving through early, but stronger one will reinforce the first one and bring some nasty conditions late Monday & early Tuesday into Charleston.
April 24, 2008 (Thursday)
Well today is work then fun day. D-day for the Capt’n he got a hair cut yesterday & in turn, made him promise to help me with my frosting after. Tried to get out of it in the morning, but nope today’s the day. Wasn’t that bad, went slow and was a little frustrating, but once the back was done it was easier for me just to do the rest. Worked well and Vidal was more than happy to give it up and go change the oil instead. Hey that works…. So, now we don’t look AS bad anymore, the oil is changed; the alt belt got changed – now we can head in and check out St. Mary’s. SD visiting with the grandkids, so we decided to take the bikes in. Was cold going in, but the sun was out & hoped it would warm up. Sure did & turned out to be a beautiful day. Only 75, still cool for me considering used to 82-85 all winter (feel bad for me, I know….), but was actually great for riding the bikes. Plus, sun was pretty hot. Rode for a couple miles & found a bike shop, so got some chain lube & a patch kit. Owner said we should ride up to the naval base, have a sub right there that we can see – only another 2-3 miles. Okay, not bad – so we did – but, couldn’t find a sub & naval base is off limits. Humm, you don’t think he meant that big sub monument in the ground that we passed??? Oh well, getting late and not up for riding much further, still have to ride back. So, looks like that was the only sub we would see. Headed back and saw a sign for radio shack – great can replace my little mouse that died a long time ago. Laptop computer mouse likes to take over on its own and runs amuck – tried to fix it under the mouse settings but nothing works. So, got another little laser mouse and so, so happy – works great & this one cheaper than the 1st one just in case it decides to crap out too… Then stopped at a fresh veg stand, picked up some HG tomatoes (wonderful too!), cucumbers and fresh grapefruit. Was happy hour now & really wanted to stop for a beer, but didn’t make sense. Have been eating out a lot & w/b Friday too, so let’s just go back to the boat – can make ribs etc… Sounded good – but, had forgotten to take the ribs out & still frozen. Had moved the remainder of the Tuna the other day & that wasn’t – so looks like tuna instead. Not enough for 2 tuna steaks, so cut up the fresh tomato, cucumber, onion, made some mayo/must sauce and put together a couple seared tuna wraps. Put them with a couple dark and stomies and was a great meal. Heard Capt’n O (Overreacting) that Rats was banging the boat. Due to the current Rats was just swinging back & forth. Capt’n O mad and just looking at it – suggested just tying it to the leeward side instead of the back of the boat – after a couple other choice words to Rats – moved him over. Tried to play dominos, but game I have is pretty boring, so back to scrabble, then super tired & went to bed – Capt’n stayed up and watched TV again, humm think he must have missed it….