MIDORI ADVENTURES

We departed Brunswick Landing Marina this morning just shortly after 7:00 a.m. It was sunny, but cool - temperatures in the low 50's - but we were warm and cozy in our enclosure.

We timed our departure with low tide and the engines encountered no resistance as the outgoing current carried us down the Brunswick River into St. Simons Sound. After following the channel markers that lead out to the Atlantic Ocean, we "headed up" into the wind, put up both sails and then carried on south to Fernandina Beach. It was a great day for sailing, with a West wind of about 14 knots and seas of 1 - 2 feet. As the day progressed, the wind actually died down, so we motor sailed.

We saw lots of dolphins today. They are quite big and look black in colour. (Don't know what type they are?) We also saw a big turtle - just floating along on the surface. He had lots of growth on his back.

This was our very first time on the water this season, and our first time going "on the outside" and, we forgot to do a few things, like:
We forgot to cleat off the port anchor; forgot to put the jacklines on; forgot to put anti nausea skin patches on the night before; and forgot to put a preventer on the boom! Needless to say, everything went well - the anchor didn't fall off; Brian didn't have to go forward in a bad chop; we didn't get seasick, but we did have to listen to the boom crash around until we put the mainsail up!

We traveled past Jekyl Island, St. Andrew's Sound and Cumberland Island before reaching the mouth of the St. Mary's River which is the dividing line between Georgia and Florida. (You can find these places in your CAA/AAA Road Atlas) Our timing was perfect, and we rode in on the high tide.

We were very happy to have such a good start and by choosing the right weather and tides, much of our apprehension about going "outside" has been alleviated.

We traveled approximately 41 nautical miles today at an average speed of 6 knots and it took us about 7 hours.

Tomorrow, we will head down the ICW to Jacksonville Beach - or possibly make it further to St. Augustine. One thing we learned today is that a lot of miles and time can be spent going out an inlet and back into another. Tomorrow's journey is a few miles less if we stay on the "inside" and it only involves one bridge that opens on request. And, the scenery in northern Florida is quite lovely.
Stay tuned for a new photo album.

Lynn