Blessing of the Fleet
05 April 2009 | Jacksonville, Florida
Cindy
This was Patrick and my first experience of joining the Power and Sail Squadron in an event: the annual Blessing of the Fleet from the Jacksonville Landing on the North bank of downtown. Even though there were only 4 boats representing our group there were many other boats that participated.
Patrick passed so close to the priest not only was our boat, Sail the Wind, splashed with holy water, but we were too!
Be sure and check out the web album for this event to the right on this page under "Favorites".
Our Cumberland Trip
18 March 2009 | Cumberland Island, GA
Cindy
Be sure and see the pictures to the right 03 Cumberland Trip
Saturday, 3/14
We left the dock around 10:30 AM after waiting for the fog to lift....it never did, so we left anyway. It was chilly while underway and I got my woolies out and my jacket. Unbelieveable, but it stayed foggy all day! Breifly, midday, there was a break in the clouds, then turned foggy again.
Turning north up into Sisters Creek off the St Johns River felt so neat! A new area to explore! We achored in the South Amelia River around 5 PM. Lots of birds are gathered right on shore at the waters edge. All kinds huddled together. Very pretty. Then we hear a strange bird call. One I've never heard. Patrick recalls it as a loon. He hasn't seen a loon since living in Canada. They call again and then we see them. 3 of them! Beautiful birds with a beautiful sound. I've never seen a loon before. Nice.
Patrick grilled steaks and we had rice and asparagus and wine. Good dinner.
Sunday - Awakened to thick fog, but this burned off quickly and we are now into a GORGEOUS DAY!! We saw even more dolphin this morning. Even a tiny little one, maybe 2 feet long, kicked up its little tail to take a dive. I love nature: the birds, the sea life.
We passed by Fernandina. We could easily get here in one day by boat. Think we'll come during the Shrimp Boat Festival. There is a marina, moorings, and anchoring here. The mills nearby are less than ideal, but Fernandina is a cute little town.
Sunday afternoon we anchored just a little north of Greyfield Bed and Breakfast on Cumberland Island. We took the dinghy to the Sea Camp dock to explore the island. We followed the path along the river thru the woods to Dungeness ruins. Saw quite a few wild horses in small groups. Patrick had never seen an armadillo. We saw several. We hiked about 5 miles. Beautiful day! Sunshining! We did not go to the beachside of the island. It was getting late and we were getting hungry. We plan to return and go there predawn. A good excuse to go back real soon. We are in the dinghy flying back to Sail the Wind and we hit bottom. No problem. Then as we are approaching the sailboat you can see she's not floating. She's not leaning....yet....but she's clearly not floating. She's perfectly upright, and perfectly aground. Oh, boy. Here we go again. Flashbacks of Man-O-War Cay flood by brain. It wasn't long before she started to tilt further, further, and further still to her portside. All in all we were 3 hours until we were upright and floating once again. Not bad at all, really. (I'm glad Kelly missed that one.) I'm coming to realise that with a sailboat, it just happens!
We had a peacefully calm night. Water like glass. Warm temps.
Monday - Patrick made an awesome omelette for breakfast! Then we pulled anchor and motored to St Mary's. Such a quaint little village. Very nice park area. Lot's of restaurants. Some nice shops. We ate at Riverside Cafe out on the balcony - Reuben sandwiches. Then we walked the streets a bit. Not much to see. Dark clouds started to build, time to return to the boat. A strong shower hit and fell for about 20 minutes. Another very peaceful, calm night at anchor. 61 degs by morning, high 70's during the day.
Tuesday - We put the dinghy back on the front deck and headed out into the Atlantic! Cloudy day, north wind, seas 3-5 ft. Everything was fine until about the last 30 minutes before entering the Mayport entrance to the St Johns River. The seas had picked up, it got a little rough and I felt sick. Good to be home. Jacksonville is beautiful coming through downtown at sunset.