Nov 30, 1999

Mile 650

About 10 miles north of

St. Simons Island, Georgia

Greeting to all

and BRRRRR!!

Ken’s been after me to start another letter. I suggested he do this one, but he wasn’t interested. Some of you just received the last one. I have to get to a town with a library nearby or a friendly marina office to let me use their Internet.

We’re anchored in a little creek off Doboy Sound in a strong Northeast wind blowing in from the Ocean about 4 miles away. Blowing 30-35 offshore, 8-10 foot seas. ICW somewhat protected, but those sailboats going by are not having a lot of fun according to radio talk. Also about 35 degrees in AM, predicting 28 tomorrow, plus wind chill – out with all the winter clothes again. Once again Ken made the right decision to stay at anchor. Actually, I wanted to move on but Ken said we’d be better off waiting a day. He was right!

Spent Nov 8-11 at Coquina Marina in North Myrtle Beach (3^rd night free); Shopping, laundry, cleaning – and giving Ken a break from the drone of the engine 6-7 hour a day. (Mi346). 11/12 started trip thru Myrtle Beach. I was wishing I had a guest for this span, it was so gorgeous with lots to see. The first section included a 3-mile "Rock Pile" where you have to make sure there are no barges coming at you since there isn’t enough room to pass. Next is Barefoot Landing, a large upperscale discount shopping and restaurant complex with free dockage – Ken said we didn’t have time to stop. (What would I need anyway.); then a tramway over the ICW carrying golfers from one green to another; next , several miles of fabulous Myrtle Beach homes, each one a different architectural delight; on into The Waccama River: swamps, marshes, deep creeks, dense forests and oaks with Spanish moss hanging from them.

We anchored that night in the lower end of a narrow Prince Creek – ALL ALONE. During daylight it was lovely with hundreds of large turtles sunning themselves on fallen logs. It was aerie being so alone and away from the ICW with hardly enough room to swing with the changing current. I kept thinking how we were in the SC Boondocks(Redneck Country). There was a raft with a little one-room shack built on it anchored to a tree on shore. I kept thinking of the movie Deliverance and expected to hear the banjos at any time. At night it was pitch black, no moon, and I must admit I didn’t sleep well. In the morning there were several spiders on board, probably came on drifting leaves. I couldn’t wait to get out of there!

Some other memorable stops:

11/12 Anchored off Georgetown (Mi403) Another great little town catering to transient boats. A must stop for all, but no groceries – so shrimp from docks – alas.

11/14 Stopped at Isle of Palms Marina (Mi456). Decided to wait out blow before going to Charleston for a couple of days. When we called Charleston for a reservation, found no one leaving due to weather so decided to take bus in. ($.75 one hour ride; only cost Ken $.25 cause he’s a senior citizen.) Went to old City Market in historic area – full of gift shops and restaurants. I’m convinced you should really take a tour to get the major history and points of interest when you go to one of these areas. However, we had time restrictions, a bus to catch, so didn’t get the most enjoyment out of Charleston.

The next day made it thru the Sawyer Bridge just before it shut down for the rest of the day with mechanical problems and on for a breezy motor sail across Charleston Harbor on our way toward Beaufort (BU’FERT) SC, not to be confused with Beaufort (BO’FERT) NC.

11/18-11/23 in Beaufort; another great waterway stop where they cater to visitors and transient boats. The Big Chill was made here. Guy and Roberta Tremblay, former coworkers at Foxboro, spent Sat visiting and invited us to Thanksgiving dinner. They live about an hour away in Georgia and would try to schedule offshore sail next weekend. So we spent another couple of days there then on to Hilton Head to wait for them. We declined Thanksgiving invite to spend time working on boat at dock in HH. Unfortunately they couldn’t make it offshore (just as well since wind went south and weather broke down), so now we’re another week behind and into cold weather again.

Thanksgiving dinner on Conquest consisted of roast turkey (cooked in convection oven) mashed potato w gravy(home made), stuffed mushrooms, dressing with sausage, squash and apple crisp for dessert. Ken has suggested I’m getting pleasantly plump. A doctorate doesn’t mean he’s smart in all areas. He will pay!

12/1 Arrived at Jeckyll Island, Georgia. (Mi. 685) No anchorage for several miles and marina filled. Luckily someone heard my conversation on radio and told me to come into Jeckyll Island Wharf where they were tied up. Turned out to be great stop right in historic district, about half mi area of mansions now made into a museum, former homes of Newport type (Morgans, Rockefellers, Cranes,etc.)Supposedly JP Morgan used to anchor his 300-ft sailboat in harbor. Must have been a lot deeper water there then. None of the homes had kitchens because they ate all meals at the Club, which is now a gorgeous old hotel. The Xmas lights at night were spectacular. The dock was pretty casual and the dock master never showed up til next day. He let us take bikes since he hadn’t been around to help us in. No ice available so Ken had to wander up to hotel after dark to "borrow " some from their guest machines. We stayed an extra day and biked the island, about 7 miles long and half mile wide. If you ever get a chance to go there, it’s well worth it!

12/3 Decided to sail offshore from St Andrew’s Inlet to Fernandina Beach, FL.(Mi.715) A little hairy going out since buoys aren’t shown on chart since they keep moving them with shifting shoals and you go out thru breakers on each side. About 18 miles right down wind then a great 6 mile reach into the harbor. I told Ken he could say we "sailed" to Florida. Anchored off town surrounded by three paper mills (smelly!) but another lovely historic town to wander around. Here’s where we found library had Internet but wouldn’t let you into email. Said they were for info not communication, too much trouble with viruses. Getting difficult to get into email regularly.

12/5 Day From Hell! Ken wanted to go outside again. I said NO. No good chart of Inlet to get out. A difficult motoring day. About mi 728, trying to follow chart and stay off 3 ft spot with green marker on it, kept running aground, couldn’t find way through. After several attempts retracing steps back to deep water marker, trying again, running aground, a powerboat came through, familiar with the area and led us through. Turns out the chart is wrong and we should have been hugging that green marker pictured sitting on a shoal. Needless to say, we were both frustrated and Ken was not a happy camper. Of course it was my fault for not going outside. Ken had lost new pair of glasses in Myrtle Beach and while anchoring, stepped on old pair and broke frame. Said he wouldn’t replace, didn’t like having to wear them and would learn to go without. I keep trying to explain to him this sight problem is only going to get worse, but he thinks he can ignore it(ho, ho, ho)!! Now wearing glasses repaired with plastic bag ties for screws and lens taped in. Even dinner didn’t turn out well!

12/6 to 12/10 St Augustine.(Mi. 776) Three days in marina, two days at anchor. Another great tourist town; trolley tickets $12 for 3 days. Used for sight seeing, shopping, library, PO. You can imagine how beautiful the town is from the anchorage, all lit up at night. (Found new glasses in bottom of work locker. Thank goodness, those others were pretty embarrassing!)

12/12 Halifax Marina, Daytona Beach (Mi. 831) Stopped to visit with former sailing friends, Ann & Dick Cuneen, now living in FLY IN – Country Club Community . Ann is back in real estate and Dick is working at aviation university in town. They built their new house with airplane hangar attached. Livingroom windows look out on runway access and across at neighbor’s hangar with antique planes. Rumor has it John Travolta is coming back to neighborhood.

As we returned to marina, walking down dock, heard splash which I thought was dog til we saw a woman swimming toward next dock. She seemed to be alone so I kept an eye on her, talking to her while Ken went to get dinghy. As she tried to climb (unsuccessfully) onto dock, I noticed she was naked! Just as Ken rowed up to her, some others had reached her and were pulling her out. Ken did an about face to boat (but pouted all night). Others tried to give her shirt, but she said she was too hot!! –and pretty high! She broke away from them, jumped into water again and onto next dock. The police had to take her away. No one at the marina knew where she came from or how she got in – locked gates.

12/13 Ken had been concerned for several days about difficulty with gearbox. Sometimes takes several seconds to engage. So had mechanic take out and send off for repair. Today is Thursday, 12/16. Still not back. Word is at least $1,000 for repairs plus week at dock. I told Ken I may have to send him to work if he can’t keep me in the manner to which I am accustomed! At least the library is nearby, which is why everybody keeps hearing from us.

When things come together, we’ll continue to Palm Beach/Lake Worth area to provision and cross. Word has it the northern Bahamas were devastated by last hurricane, Floyd, many marinas and grocery stores destroyed, most buoys missing. Must plan to bring all provisions and be pretty self-sufficient. It should be an adventure.

I’ve spent hours trying to get AOL set up, now waiting for them to mail me new floppy disk to install. Then not sure how, or if, I’ll get into email in islands. I will reactivate my cell phone 12/20. Palm Beach is back in Omnipoint area, so we can get messages and call again til we leave FL.

Don’t know where we’ll be for Xmas but Happy Holidays to all,

Jane and Ken