Life on Lailia

Thunderbolt, GA to Safe Harbor Port Royal, Port Royal, SC (docked)

June 25, 2022

The water was so calm this morning that we did not need to deploy John’s plan for departure – we were able to just back out. Mother Nature and Poseidon were on our side today.

Thunderbolt Marina had warm doughnuts for us – it’s apparently one of their cool traditions. Kind of cool that the town likes boaters, dogs and raccoons.

We had to go under one on-demand bridge today. It’s good to be here because there was no waiting at all (unlike south Florida…). I remember heading south under this bridge and being enchanted with the whole bridge tender thing.

When we headed south in January, the Port Royal Sound was so *sporty* that we turned back. Today it was a rolly enough that we closed the hatches and portlights but it was fun – no one got sick and we made good time.

This marina is one that is very familar to us. We looked at a boat here before we got Lailia and John spent a few days here getting fuel polished when he brought Lailia back to Johns Island. This was also our first stop when on our way south.

Tomorrow we will leave early and head to Charleston. Once again, we are reminded that the pace of trip is slow. By car, we could get to Charleston from here in under 90 minutes but Lailia will take most of the day to complete the journey.

Our former marina does not have space for us so we’ll be staying in a marina in town. It’s within a short distance to a lot of Charleston’s stores and restaurants, so in some ways it’s actually a better place to stay for a week or so before we explore further north.

Crescent River to Thunderbolt Marina, Thunderbolt, GA

June 23 & 24, 2022

Travel days often start really early to make best use of time and tides. We knew that we had to get through Hell Gate on a rising tide at around 1:30 PM to make sure the water was deep enough, which meant leaving Crescent River anchorage around 6:30AM.

On days we are on the move, breakfast is prepared underway. We don’t have enough power when we are not attached to a dock to use any electric heating devices like toasters or coffee makers, so we’ve figured out some routines that work for us.

We had a few fresh berries left from when we last shopped in Fernandina Beach so we used them up.

Since we can’t use our toaster, we butter bread on both sides and fry it as a toast substitute. I usually do this as we wait for the water for tea and oatmeal to boil. Sometimes John will have French press coffee, but cleaning the carafe is kind of a pain.

The water was really calm and the tide was pushing us along so we actually got to Hell Gate earlier that we expected. John dropped the speed and we sort of glided through; the slow pace gave us some grace in case the water was too shallow and we needed to back off.

Once again, we are really, really thankful for the air conditioner that John installed in Titusville. We plan to eventually install a marine air conditioner so we won’t have to worry about having to stow or secure the unit when we sail. There was no wind when we arrived at Thunderbolt and the 100 degree inside Lailia was not at all fun. By the time we went to bed, the air conditioner had dropped the temp to 70 degrees in our cabin.

In hopes of repairing the autopilot, we spent an extra day in Thunderbolt Marina because they have an attached boatyard where we hoped we could get some information and assistance. The break in the cable was easy to find (after John engineered a way to take off the special fasteners on the back of the unit).

The good news was that an electrician had the part we needed and was willing to deliver it to us at the dock; the bad news was that he couldn’t get there until after lunch. We needed to stay at Thunderbolt for an additonal day, which turned out to be a good decision because unforecast high winds blew in.

There were five wires inside the cable for the autopilot. It took a while to attach them all in the right order (we are working on a boat that is moving in the wind and waves with a limited selection of tools). The really bad news is that once everything was connected, the autopilot still does not work.

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Once the sun went down and the temperature cooled off a bit, we strolled through the tiny town of Thunderbolt (near Savannah). The town embraces its history around the the yacht basin so much that even the town seal has an anchor on it.

It’s also dog-friendly 🙂

It’s raccoon-friendly, too: the raccoon crossing sign is very close to the dog treats. No doubt the trash pandas are aware of the container of biscuits sitting there.

This marina has very limited staffing so John has made a plan for our departure in the morning that does not require any outside assistance even with the strong wind and current. We’ll head to Port Royal on the last stop prior to a short stop in Charleston, where we will visit some friends and I will fly out to Tahoe. We’ll continue heading north after a week or so.

Brunswick, GA to Crescent River (near Valona), GA (anchored)

June 22, 2022

We made a decision to travel on the ICW instead of going out in the ocean. We don’t have a great way to secure our new air conditioner against rough seas at the moment. It will be a longer trip but we have budgeted enough time to get to Charleston.

The ICW in Georgia is really twisty and curvy as it follows some natural tidal rivers. There are a lot of inlets and sounds and on navigation charts it appears it’s mostly marshy. Navigation would be incredibly difficult without technology.

Lailia’s autopilot will hold a course while we are underway; without it we have to adjust to wind and current almost continuously. Today it stopped working. John thinks a wire in the NMEA 2000 cable broke because the unit is not getting power. Of course, these wires run through all sorts of small, narrow places on our boat so fixing it will take some boat yoga (although John tried to deal with it as I steered for a bit).

Our anchorage is at the mouth of the Crescent River. It’s pretty remote here but there are dolphins galore. We have seen some interesting behavior including barrel rolls.

We’ll leave around 6:00 tomorrow morning because we need to go through the shallow channel at Hell Gate on a rising tide. The channel is about 40 miles from us and we need to be there around 1:30. We are really, really happy that we have an air conditioner and that it runs with our generator!

Sunset at Cresecent River anchorage

Plum Orchard, Cumberland Island to Brunswick Landing Marina, Brunswick, GA (docked)

June 21, 2022

Yay! The windlass works!

We hauled anchor this morning with no issues and no need for John to have to pull chain in by hand. It helped that the anchor was not coated with mud, too.

To get to Brunswick, Georgia, we have to cross St. Andrew Sound, which is where several rivers meet the ocean. All of this moving water, plus the large fetch (area where wind can blow over the water) can make sounds really sporty. This was not the case today – it was really, really eerily calm.

Many boaters dislike the ICW in Georgia because it’s very circuitous; they prefer “heading outside” through an inlet or sound to travel in a straight line in the ocean for the day. Traveling the ICW is slow but there’s a lot to see – dolphins, birds, cool houses, and maybe even some wildlife (like the raccoon we saw walking on the beach today).

Brunswick is an old town that’s seen some better days. The nearby islands such as Jekyll and St. Simons are far more upscale and thriving. Brunswick’s Main Street is very close to the marina. There are many empty storefronts but it’s clean and the many town squares are well-maintained.

Brunswick does have Silver Bluff Microbrewery that is open and seems to have a good customer base. It has a pretty beer garden and daily food trucks, too.

Brunswick Landing Marina is huge with 15 docks, free laundry, and many places for boaters to gather. They also sponsor happy hours a few times a week (but not on Tuesdays, of course). Our boat friends from Fernandina Beach were here and welcomed us into a small social group hanging out at the top of one of the docks.

Each marina has its own personality that shows up in different ways. Brunswick Landing is known as a “hurricane hole” where boats can seek shelter from during hurricane season so it has a big population of liveaboards and long-term residents.

Sometimes they add items to personalize the space.

Sometimes signage offers some insight into some prior incidents…

We will make a decision about whether to stay inside the ICW or head outside into the ocean tomorrow. Factors in this decision include weather and wave heights in the ocean, as well as distance between inlets and boat preparation in order to go outside (such as figuring out how to secure the air conditioner in case of rough seas).

Fernandina Beach, FL to Plum Orchard, Cumberland Island, GA (anchored)

June 20. 2022

(Written as we were underway on the 21st because we had low bandwidth at Plum Orchard)

After fueling up and filling our water tank, we left Fernandina Beach.

The one and only thing that’s not great about Fernandina Beach is the mills that are on both sides of the marina. The smsokestacks are always billowing and when the wind blows the wrong way, we can smell a turpentine-ish smell.

We have finally crossed into Georgia. I am really glad we re-entered the US in at Lake Worth because we had less bridges and stops to make as we travel north.

It’s only about 14 miles from Fernandina Beach to Plum Orchard anchorage, near Cumberland Island, but it’s a completely different vibe. Cumberland Island is a National Seashore that only allows 300 people on it at a time. While we were there, we only saw one other family.

I knew that I would love it here and when I saw all of the roseate spoonbills in a tree next to where we anchored, it was just further proof. These birds are among my favorite and to see a dozen in a tree was a gift. We noticed that they stayed in the tree until the tide went out; then they landed on the mudbanks to do their foraging.

As soon as we set foot on the island, we saw some of the feral horses that inhabit Cumberland Island.

The trails here are sandy and shaded by giant oaks hung with Spanish moss. Somehow we managed to be there on a day that the heat and humidity were comfortable.

We are really used to hearing squirrels rustling in the leaves but on this trail, the rustling was made by armadillos. We saw far more of these little armored tanks than squirrels. They stick their noses in the leaf litter and just bulldoze forward until they find some insects to eat. These little buddies were unfazed by our presence.

There was just so much to see here including a pretty large gator in the freshwater pond near the mansion.

Evening was really cool here, too. We watched a baby gator climb up on shore to get the last rays of sun.

We had a few small pods of dolphins swin by as they grabbed their dinner.

It seems that each species of bird has a specific time to move from one spot to the other – the roseate spoonbills waited until the tide was low to feed; grackles flew back to the land from the salt marsh about an hour before sunset; redwing blackbirds flew back after the grackles were in the trees.

Tomorrow we will head to a marina in Brunswick, Georgia. We’ll be able to get some laundry done and possibly take care of a few boat tasks. We need to be back in Charleston before the 27th so I can fly to the west coast for a workshop.

Oasis Marina, Fernandina Beach (mooring ball)

June 19, 2022

The town of Fernandina Beach is very friendly for walking although the beach in its name is over two miles from the marina.  We have especially enjoyed walking through the residential areas to check out the houses from the turn of the 19th century. 

Yesterday we ran into folks we originally met in Spanish Wells and today we spent most of the afternoon with them at two breweries.  There’s such an easy connection with other people who live aboard maybe because we are all in (forgive me) the same boat.  We’re living in a very small space with few frills that requires many work-arounds; our boat friends provide advice and commiseration with no judgement.

We plan to head north for a few hours to Cumberland Island tomorrow where we will hike a little.  I am hoping we’ll see some of the wild ponies and some armadillos, too.

Oasis Marina, Fernandina Beach, FL (mooring ball)

June 18, 2022

Last night the wind shifted and we had lots of thunder, lightning, and rain. Our morning was so cloudy and rainy that we weren’t motivated to take the dinghy to shore to go to the farmers’ market.

Right around noon the weather cleared up and the sun came out.

Fernandina Beach has an on-demand bus service on Saturdays. Our fruit and veggie supply was running low so we called for a ride to Publix. Phyllis, our bus driver, had to do a quick stop in Publix, too, so she said she would wait for us and take us right back to the top of the dinghy dock. She was such a lovely lady who really enjoyed getting to know her regular customers.

We were on a different kind of schedule today – getting out later in the day and not hurrying anywhere – pretty much a perfect way to spend a Saturday.

A quick stroll to First Love Brewery for pizza then ice cream on the way back to the marina just added to our really nice day vibe.

Tonight we ran into folks who we met back in Spanish Wells and are hoping that we can grab drinks with them tomorrow.

This evening’s sunset was pretty spectacular.

We’ll probably spend another day here before we head north to Cumberland Island. Our friend Jen said there’s an “overabundance of wildlife” there – but honestly, can there ever be too many critters (unless they’re scary ones like feral pigs coming out of the woods at night) (or raccoons) (or leeches)?

St. Augustine to Oasis Marina, Fernandina Beach, FL (mooring ball)

June 17, 2022

We left St. Augustine a little before 7:00 AM so we could get through the Bridge of Lions when it opened. The tide was in our favor so we had the easiest undocking we have ever had.

North Florida’s ICW is much more wild than in south Florida. The Bridge of Lions was the only bridge that was less than 65 feet, so we had no waiting for openings. There is some dredging along the channels but there aren’t megayachts and folks on speedboats throwing up giant wakes.

Instead of megayachts, there were pods of dolphins. The water is smooth enough that we could see them throughout the day.

There was another SpaceX rocket launch this afternoon. It flew over us at an odd angle so we only saw the contrail (and heard it) after it passed us.

We are on a mooring ball in Fernandina Beach. We have access to marina resources like showers and laundry but are not right at the docks so we have to use our generator to run the air conditioner at night. There’s enough to do in town that we don’t need to be on Lailia much during the day while we are here.

We managed to walk to three of the four breweries in Fernandina Beach this afternoon. Each had its own offerings and ambiance. I like that two of them had ciders.

While we were at the final brewery, someone from Rock Hill recognized John from his McHale’s days. John used to cycle with Macy’s mom, Barbara, too.

There’s some serendipity that we have met up with Rock Hill folks at the last two stops we have had.

We plan to stay here for a couple of days. There is a farmer’s market tomorrow and there is Saturday bus service that I can take to the grocery store. It’s also a really walkable town that we can explore.

St. Augustine Municipal Marina, FL (docked)

June 15 and 16, 2022

While I have been leading a virtual workshop John has been taking care of more boat tasks. He has purchased more oil for our next oil change and looked at some possible pumps for our dinghy (so we don’t have to bail it out every time it rains). John’s also brought home some great pizza for lunch each day.

We have managed to walk to all four of the St. Augustine breweries – including Old Coast Ales which is on the other side of the Bridge of Lions. We met some folks who had stayed for a week on a catamaran in the Bahamas and it was cool to see that we had enjoyed some of the same places.

There’s a lot of attention to early history of St. Augustine with lots of Spanish architecture and motifs in the old town. Today I found some other eras of history that show how St. Augustine has been an important historical place all along.

After work today I walked south along the ICW and found the St. Augustine National Military Cemetery. The oldest grave is from 1828 and there are remains interred there from wars since then. This area is not in the tourist part of town so it’s serene and quiet there.

There are three pyramids there that contain the remains of soldiers who died in the Florida Wars, a part of history that I had never heard.

I also found Maria Sanchez Lake (in the mid-1700s this was Maria Sanchez Creek but was dammed in the late 1800s) with a path around it in what is known as Lincolnville, which was settled by freedmen after the Civil War. There were even a few markers discussing St. Augustine’s role in the Civil Right Movement.

There’s so much cool history here – there are bricks from Graves Brickyard in Birmingham. Those bricks must have been made between 1901 and 1920. The Reynold’s bricks were made in Tennessee between 1888 and 1939. Imagine all of what these bricks have seen in the last 100-plus years.

Tomorrow we get an early start and head to Fernandina Beach with hopes of staying on a mooring ball. We visited there in January and really liked the area but did not explore much. I bet we can even find a few microbreweries within walking distance of the marina.

St. Augustine Municipal Marina, FL (docked)

June 14, 2022

Our windlass is fixed! The Sailors’ Exchange sent us to an electric motor repair shop who sent us to a A & R Automotive which specializes in electrical repairs like alternators and starters. They were able to repair the brush carriage for us; the brushes no longer hang up on the oversize spring.

John has installed it and it works. We now have flexibilty in where we stop for the evening because we can easily haul up our anchor. Marinas are great in so many ways – showers, laundry, being able to walk around – but we don`t always want that.

In the spirit of our Intracoastal Brewery tour, we walked to Dog Rose Brewery this afternoon. We walked through a quieter part of St. Augustine to get there and took the opportunity to just look closely at the artifacts and art that are just part of daily life here. This is in contrast to the very touristy “Old Town” that has been polished and prettied.

This was actually our second visit to Dog Rose – we were here in January, too.

Tomorrow is another day of leading a virtual workshop. I am glad we are here so John isn’t stuck on Lailia while I work.