April 17 - 27 Clay's Log

St. Augustine - we passed north of the Bridge of Lions, 2 days before a 4 day closure - a new bridge is almost done, the B.O.L. will be torn down & rebuilt by 2010; the new "temporary" bridge will then be torn down completely when the "new -old Bridge of Lions" reopens. Must be a government project.

4-18 Arrived in Fernandina Beach and fueled, stayed at the town marina. Gene & Rose leave us at this point, going to miss them. Had a tour of town - old, in great shape, vibrant.

4-19 We cross border to Georgia and head through salt marshes. The beauty of a healthy salt marsh that has been there from the dawn of man is something to behold. Some call it a swamp! Made good time til late afternoon when an approaching thunderstorm changed our plans - ducked into a creek and anchored just as the heavens washed our boat and nature lit up the evening sky - safe & dry - spent quiet night. Got up about 3:00 am to hear dolphins swimming and snorting in the black of the night. I could follow their progress from the sounds of their breathing, quite a thrill; we forget how much background noise we live with.

4-20 Day break found us underway, came in to Thunderbolt GA - anchored for the evening. Plan to take a dock in the a.m. and go in to Savanah.

4-21 Thunderbolt Marina - arrived early and headed for the bus stop. Took the bus to Savanah. Took a quick tour, walked the waterfront and market place. Public transportation is well used, hadn't been on a bus in years, we hunted for a cell phone store, ours gave up the ghost, found one 12 miles outside of town in a mall, great stores if you have a car - so much for social commensary. Bussed back to boat.

4-22 Day break found us underway, made good time. Counted at least 27 dolphins. Must be mating season - they seemed really frisky. Anchored in 8 ft of water, unsure of tides - checked depth before going to bed 3.4 ft (we only need 18 inch) - hoped it would rise before day light...

4-23 Day break - depth is back to 8 ft - on our way. Arrived in Charleston. Anchored in bay next to the city marina. In morning will dingy in and meet up with the Don & Jackie Michael.

4-24 Spent the day with the Michael's. They are great hosts. I know them from Milford Yacht Club in CT. With them we saw Charleston, went shopping and best of all, we went to see and talk to the people building the schooner Charleston. This is a several year project; the volunteers at Historic Spanish Point & Gulf Coast Heritage Museum, eat your hearts out.

4-25 & 26 We spent a long day with very low tides - narrow channels. Had to wait for Sunset Beach pontoon bridge - very low water, this bridge becomes a road. Many boats had passed us much earlier were there waiting for the bridge to open. The weather is cool with rain, stormy tonight.

4-27 Underway at first light. Cape Fear river with current in our favor, actually hit 10.1 knots for a short period - light winds, flat water - great ride RAIN. 10:00 a.m. pulled in to Wrightsville Beach to marina. Met Bill Puterbaugh - took us on tour of Wilmington and had lunch - great visit. Will enjoy quiet afternoon - back on the water tomorrow to Morehead City area.

Dinner with the Crawford's
in St. Augustine











Orion exploring on deck

Sunset on Okeechobee Waterway

Gene & Clay outdrive repairs

Sunrise on waterway

Rose & Gene saying goodbye in Fernandina Beach - we had a great time and we'll miss their company!

Clay volunteered to help with knot tying at the Lighthouse Museum

St. Augustine Light House

April 1st -3rd

We’re on our way. We left dock in Naples Saturday morning 4-1-06 with beautiful weather and headed to Fort Myers into the Calosahatchee/Okechobee Waterway. The gators, osprey and mosquitos guided us on our way. Our friends, Rose and Gene Loqiudice are joining us on the trip to Fernadina Beach, the last town on the waterway in Florida. So far, it’s everything we’ve anticipated! Orion (the cat) seems to
be adjusting quite nicely, but occasionally a large wake sends him scurrying to a cubby in the closet. In Stuart we had a nice visit with our friends the Conklin’s and Foley’s.



April 4 Up early – Lori walked to the grocery store while Clay drained and filled the water tanks. Left the dock at about 10:00 and headed on our way. The weather has been wonderful – and not a lot of boat traffic – very enjoyable. We participated in a man overboard drill when one of the seat cushions went over board. The entire crew got an A+. We anchored for the night at Pelican Island N.W.R. The dolphins entertained us during dinner – we were able to look out the cabin windows and see them playing along the boat.


April 5th
Clay’s Day of Murphy’s Law

We pulled anchor about 7:30 a.m. While Gene was at the helm, Lori & Rose were in the cabin making some adjustments in the window blinds while Clay was investigating why we keep finding water in the bilge. We opened an inspection plate in the head and found a deodorant stick while had fallen through from a cabinet in the head. He proceeded to stick his arm in to see if there was anything else there and then we heard – Lori help – I’m stuck. Lori thought he was just in a position that he wasn’t able to get back up – but his arm was wedged in the hole. There were some intense moments – Lori laughing and calling for a camera – Clay insisting this wasn’t the time… finally with lots of liquid soap and a position change – the arm did slide out before Lori was able to get the saw going!! (Clay’s version: Don’t stick your hand and arm where it doesn’t belong!) About 11:30 Lori was at the helm when the outdrive started squeeling. Clay and Gene checked the oil there was water in it. We found a marina and pulled in. As we got further in the canal it because narrower and we actually had to manually turn the boat around from the dock after finding out they were not equipped to help us. We ended up backing the boat up to a beach, anchoring and Clay and Gene took the outdrive off the boat in thigh deep water doing the stingray shuffle. Clay notice a marine store across the street and went to get more oil – at 14.95 at quart! He was able to talk someone in to giving him a ride to town where he was able to get the 5 qts we needed at a much more reasonable price. There are still good Samaritans out there! Lori & Rose spread plastic on the cockpit floor and the guys took the outdrive apart and resealed the lower unit. They tried to put the unit back on that evening but it was getting dark and they were tired, decided to wait until morning.

April 6th

At day break – Clay and Gene were in the water putting the outdrive back on. It slipped right into place and they filled it with oil, started the engine and we were underway. The unit was still making noise but then would go for hours without any noise. We met another Gemini en route who suggested a great boat yard for repairs in St. Augustine. We all said a prayer that the outdrive would hold out until we hit St. Augustine. We anchored for the night in a quiet inlet at New Smyrna. Orion is getting a little more adventuresome – coming out on deck in the evening when the motor isn’t running.

April 7th

Up and going early – hoping to make St. Augustine by days end. We went past Fort Matanza. We continue to have beautiful weather and in spite of mechanical problems are having a wonderful time – nothing deterring our spirits. On approaching St. Augustine, Rose noticed that her laundry bag on the floor in their cabin was set. Clay started inspecting and reported that it was salt water – uh oh! Within a short time the guys figured out that the water pump on the engine was leaking. Fortunately, we were coming into the dock at St. Augustine and can get the water pump fixed there along with the outdrive.

April 8th – 16

We arrived at SAM (St. Augustine Marine) on Friday evening and unfortunately were not able to be hauled until Monday. We enjoyed a peaceful weekend on the dock – met with friends Tom & Vickie Crawford who lent us their van to do laundry and get groceries. On Monday the boat was hauled, the outdrive and water pump sent for repairs. Tuesday they told us the outdrive needed to be replaced and they would call England and hopefully we could get it in two days. That afternoon Clay checked to find out what they heard from England and they told him they were going to call that afternoon (England is 5 hours ahead of us) but unfortunately they were closed! Needless to say the call was made the first thing Wednesday morning. The news wasn’t good – with the holidays they didn’t anticipate we would received it for two weeks. Clay got on the phone and called the boat builder in Annapolis and talked them in to giving us one from their stock. When they agreed, a car was rented, Lori packed some bags and they were off.

Within less than 24 hours we were back in St. Augustine with the new outboard. Gene and Clay had it installed in no time, but we were stuck in the boat yard because of the holiday - so we decided just to enjoy our time in St. Augustine - what a wonderful place to be stranded!

It's Monday 4-17 (Lori & Clay's 2nd Anniversary) and we're waiting in line for the lift to put us in the water - the adventure continues!!