Aboard s.v. Trudy Mae

It was chilly on Monday. We were going to head into Titusville and do a bit of provisioning, but decided it could wait a day and just hung about the boat discussing where we should go next. With a month long layover starting the last week of February we needed to decide where we wanted to be for that month. Farther south would be nice, but then we'd really be under the gun to make it home on schedule...so we decided we'd go north...just not exactly how far north. We threw around a few spots....Jekyll Island (just south of Savannah), Wilmington, Charleston, Georgetown...even as far as Oriental, NC...but didn't come to any firm conclusions.

Tuesday morning just before first light Doug roused me from a sound sleep and announced we were leaving. Suddenly he was anxious to get going. Apparently it was a long trip to wherever we were going. I barely had time to get dressed before the engine was on and I could hear the anchor chain falling into the anchor locker...and we were off. We didn't stop until we were back anchored in almost the exact same spot we'd been in 6 days before at Daytona Beach.

Wednesday we were weathered in at Daytona Beach by cold high winds. It was a rocky day on the hook but we managed to narrow down our layover destination to either Jekyll Island, Georgia or Georgetown, South Carolina. Jekyll Island is a very pretty with a lovely marina with a courtesy car, bikes, more bike trails than roads and tennis courts... and barely north of Florida so hopefully warm. Georgetown is a small southern city (about 35 miles south of Myrtle Beach, NC) with a very nice marina (with new bathrooms, showers and laundry) in the heart of the historical downtown, with tennis courts only ¼ mile away and a Piggly Wiggly that will pick you up and drop you off again...and at Mile Marker 403 of the ICW it's halfway to Norfolk (with the worst of the ICW's shallow depths out of the way) breaking the trip north up quite nicely.

Thursday we were on the move again. We anchored about 5 miles shy of St Augustine and at days end we were still waffling between Jekyll Island and Georgetown.

Friday was cold (just a few degrees above freezing) windy and raining steadily. We anchored at noon. We'd managed to cover almost 20 miles but it was just too miserably cold and wet to continue. We checked the weather and they were actually calling for snow over night - although they didn't expect any accumulation (small mercies). We spent the rest of the day trying to keep warm. The oven was busy...first muffins...then a loaf of bread...then dinner...and then brownies. Probably not one of Doug's most pleasurable birthdays...but we did finally decide that our destination would be Georgetown...short term pain for long term gain (at least that's the theory).

With a shorter than planned distance covered on Friday, Saturday was a marathon. We covered the remaining 49 miles to Fernandina Beach. We pulled onto the gas dock at about 4 PM, filled up and paid for a dock for the night. Once tied off at the dock we launched into phase two...fill the water tank, dispose of the garbage, head to town and hit the post office, bank, grocery store...then back to the boat to stow the groceries, shower and do laundry while having a bite to eat...and then out on the town for a belated birthday drink before calling it a day.

There was frost on the deck and the dock this morning. The heater was on full blast all night. It kept us toasty warm and everything in the boat is once again dry. The sun is shining but we are bundled up (the toques, scarves and mitts are out again). We've just past by Jekyll Island...so I guess that makes the decision final...Georgetown or bust...if we don't freeze to death first!