As we recall dear readers, a BBQ was planned for last Saturday and what a blast it was! Surprise, Bill and Maureen Little drove up from Palm Coast where their boat was, with Tom and Maryi Benz! They had hustled up from southern Florida after returning from the Bahamas so they could surprise us! Very cool, not to mention, they hated to miss a good party! Dan and Kath have a lovely home in St. Augustine that they have been remodeling and doing an amazing job! John and Jennifer from Lady J were there as well as Alex and Dave from Nova Scotia, friends of Kath and Dan. Great food, lots of laughs and games. Hey, the Littles were coming! Lol. Inside info here, Bill and Mo are known far and wide for their many games that they play. We had badminton, (too windy), darts and the creme de la creme was night Bocce with lighted Bocce balls! Very cool! A great time for sure! Thanks again to Kath and Dan fir their hospitallity. Sunday, Brian and Jane arrived from Mar-a-Lago after a long drive from Toronto. We had dinner at Hurricane Patty's and caught up on each others winter. They were in the Bahamas while we were in Marathon. It was great to see them again. Monday I helped Brian bring their boat down to a neighboring Marina so they could have their boat lifted out and put on the hard so they could replace the shaft cutlass bearing which was getting sloppy. The bearing holds the shaft in place as it spins and must be very snug to prevent wobbles. Brian also waxed the hull while on shore and cleaned up his bow thruster.... When the boat is out of the water you fix anything that is below the waterline. Tuesday night Dan and Kath picked us up to go to Ichiban Japanese Buffet! They call it Itchy Buns! Lol. I wont go into the amazing variety of food but it is impressive all for $10.99, but wait, theres more....a 50% off coupon on 1 meal brought the cost down to $7.50/ meal! Cheap eating and so good for you! Lol. Brians cutlass bearing was ordered and put in Wed. so Thursday morning departure was a go. We spent Wed night eating at Pizzalley in town. We rode bikes, Brian and Jane walked from the other Marina....long walk they found out! Thutsday they were launched and off we went to Sisters Creek free dock near Jacksonville. We wers trying to beat a masdive storm coming in around 5:00 pm. It wad pretty windy all day but it was on our stern all day giving us a push. We did fight tide most of the day that slowed us down a bit but all in all a good travel day except for the docking in Sisters Creek. Between the wind and current, it took a couple of attempts but fortunately, there were 4 other sailboats tied up and their owners came out and helped! We got her tied up and then went and helped Brian and Jane....same problem but it was windier where they were so it was tough brining them in but many hands got the job done! Right on Q, a massive storm came through with unbelievable rain and wind. It lasted a couple of hours but we were safe and sound on the dock. We have decided to stay here an extra day and let the predicted 40kt gust winds to die down, and leave tomorrow. We want the St Andrews Sound to be as flat as possible! It can be a bear with any kind of wind as it has direct exposure to the broad ocean. A day of West wind should calm it down.....we hope. The plan is to go all the way to Morninstar Marina in Brunswick Ga tomorrow, about 56 miles. We will have to leave here around 11:00am to get enough water in Jekyl Creek on a rising tide. The low tide is right in the middle of the day currently which stinks. So by 4:00 PM we should have 4 extra feet which we will need. There are some spots in the creek that are 3 ft at liw tide! We need 4 ft and Mar-a-Lago needs 5ft. Should be an interesting day!
Fair Winds and Calm Seas