Wednesday we travel to Hilton Head to get our car, nice to spend the night on land. Back in Brunswick on Thursday, we head over to St. Simons to explore the little town. Love it. Friday we spend the day packing and cleaning then head over to Vicki and Tom Skywark’s for dinner and to meet new friends. Love their home and friends, so inviting. Having dinner with Tom and Vicki at the start and end are the bookends to our trip. Here is Altair’s new home. Sea ya!

Tuesday, March 19
We wake up and the wind starts howling. The forecast says storms, some may be severe. We figure we’ll stay in Fernandina for the day, if not two. After coffee the weather doesn’t look too bad and we decide to head on to Brunswick. Good decision, we are in our new slip by 4 PM. Our first impressions of being here are great. There are so many great things to do and places to explore; St. Simons, Cumberland Island, Fernandina, St. Mary’s, and Jeykll.
Rob, somehow I missed your list of birds. I would have worked harder at finding them.
Picture: sailing under the Sidney Lanier Bridge

Friday, March 17th
We set out to go off shore around 1:30 PM. Once the sun sets, Bob sends Jambo and I below (less to deal with). What was supposed to be calm, good weather was pretty rocky and some rain. I did not get seasick, my major accomplishment. Bob is happy (must me a male thing or at least a sailor’s). I manage to get coffee up to him at sunrise. The stove has to be unlatched so that it can rock with the waves and the coffee pot has to be latched into place to keep it from flying off the stove. We arrive at the Fernandina Marina at 9:30 AM and get fuel and a slip. Spend the day cleaning and napping. We take one walk around the old town and, once again, Pelicans become our source of entertainment.

Thursday, March 14th
Spend the day on Merritt Island. We take a long walk to Satellite Beach and end up at Doubles restaurant, excellent food at great prices. It was packed, hope to return in the future.
Bob makes a bike ride to Publix. We play cribbage, dominoes, cook chicken, & watch a movie. The weather today was windy and chilly, but sunny.
Friday, March 15th
We leave the Telemar Marina, sailing past the crumbled dragon. Get into Titusville at 4 PM and tie up to a mooring. It is a pretty long dinghy ride into the Marina and we go in to sign in and walk Jambo. The weather was warmer and the winds have died down.
Saturday, March 16th
Leave Titusville, very close to Cape Canaveral, by 10AM. It is a very nice, warm day. We make good time by putting out a sail. New Smyrna Beach Marina is our next stop. The town is right next to the marina and I have a fun time shopping. We spend the evening sitting in the cock pit watching the pelicans fly in to eat the guts of fish that are being cleaned (doesn't sound nice but the view is beautiful and the birds are fun to watch - see picture of view).

Monday, March 11th
We left Stuart to continue our journey north. Vero Beach Marina was a 6 hour trip. The weather is cool but nothing like home. We enjoy a prepackaged Caesar salad but we add shrimp and capers. It was either really good or we were really hungry.

Tuesday, March 12th
We walk through a neighborhood along a canal, checking out the homes for sale. There are several that are really cute and don’t look too outrageous. Once back on Altair Bob dinghies ashore and takes the bus to Publix. I manage to work myself into being very homesick, but survive. Great steaks, mushrooms, salad, and red wine help. We watched two episodes of Smash on the lap top. Love the show.

Wednesday, March 13th
We continue to head north on the ICW. It is choppy and not recommended to go offshore. There are many beautiful and interesting homes and boats to view. I finish reading In the Garden of Beasts out loud. If you’ve read or read this book you’ll understand that this was quite a feat.
We end up at the Telemar Marina inside Merritt Island past Dragon Point. Quite a story about a Dragon sculpture, wish it was still here, check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8X3qwL3EoQ

The picture is of Peanut Island where we anchored the night before going to Stuart.

We have spent a great weekend at the Loggerhead marina in Stuart. The community of people really makes it a fun place to stay. Some people make their boat their home year round. Others make this their home for the winter months. Some live nearby and keep their boat here and still others drop in for shorter periods of time (like us). Regardless, they all gather round and are very welcoming.

Friday evening we went to “Cross Roads” (where two docks cross). On Friday at 5:00 everyone brings their drinks and an appetizer to share; lots of people, good time had by all.

Saturday we spend a good portion of the day at the pool eating burgers and drinking beers with some “neighbors” from New Hampshire. On Sunday we walk into Stuart. The town is hopping. There’s a farmers market, lots of entertainment, and all the restaurants are packed. If you are ever looking for a place to park your boat, this is a prime location.

Once back on the boat Bob takes the bike to make a trip to Publix and to get ice. Our plan is to head out tomorrow.
Right now it’s going on 6:00 and it’s still 71 and sunny…
Ahhhh