4/21/2013 – 7/14/2013

It is wonderful but not amazing what a difference having Air Conditioning on the boat in the summer makes in comfort and livability. We are certainly enjoying the coolness and most importantly the lack of high humidity. It is really as important here as being able to heat the boat in Minnesota is. Now the new No-Seeum screens that I sewed up a couple of months ago aren’t as important for awhile. Fall will be different though so it was well worth the effort on the part of this non-seamstress.

We have seen so many weather systems coming rolling towards us from all directions the last couple of months but the magic of Brunswick is holding and most of the time we haven’t even seen heavy rain or thunder storms. The only problem has been the snag they have put in our local sailing plans. They look very bad on radar so we drop our plans to go out sailing and then nothing actually gets to us here. They just dissipate before they reach us or they stay either way in shore or off shore or split and go around us on both sides. Although, some of them have been ugly out on the big water so we were glad we didn’t chance it. So our plans to get out sailing haven’t been working so far. But we are still hopeful that later this summer and into the fall the weather will cooperate a little more.

People continue to return to BLM or the vicinity so we are renewing friendships and keeping up with what everyone did while we were all away. Steve and Duffy on Kit who were on Dock 2 with us decided to go to Hidden Harbor up one of the creeks in northern Brunswick. We did get together after they got settled and had a lovely meal on their boat overlooking the Marshes of Glynn. But we do miss having them around. Others are either coming and staying or getting the boats settled and taking off for all or part of the summer and in the case of the New Zealanders, Aussies, and Canadians, they are all heading up to Canada for some time in order to abide by the time limitations on their cruising permits or visas into the US. But there are always enough folks around to enjoy.

The pot lucks on Memorial Day and July 4th were, of course, fun and filling. Sherry, the dockmaster here works hard to make it a great time for everyone. There were many newbies at the Memorial Day gathering since the marina is almost completely full this season. That means more fine folks to meet and get to know. As I have said before that is one of the true bonuses of this cruising life.

A special treat for us was on the 4th was that my cousin, Beth, from Lake Worth, FL came up on Wednesday and stayed until Saturday. She and Spencer, her King Charles Cavalier stayed at a motel – Beth says she can get seasick even at a dock – but did visit us on the boat. Spanker wasn’t at all sure about that thing invading her domain. We had fun at the pot luck and the next day I drove her over to Jekyll Island and then St. Simon’s Island. She and I ended up at a Starbuck’s there and had over 2 hours of family reminiscing. We both learned things we hadn’t known before. We did finally go back and get Bill for a wonderful dinner at the Coastal Indigo Shanty in downtown Brunswick.

Bill has continued to work on improving our living standard and we now have a good hi-fi system and are enjoying listening to all of our CDs including the hundreds my nephew, Doug, burned for us of all of our LPs and reel-to-reel tapes. We had a little cheap system with a couple of speakers that were marginal – so marginal that Bill just couldn’t stand to listen to them. But now we are set and happy. We now also have a small flat screen TV – not to watch cable on (we haven’ even hooked it up), but to watch DVDs on. There are so many to be shared among the boaters and the library is just 2 blocks away. Of course, there are also all of the books we have for our Kindles. With all of this entertainment now right here on Eos we will have to watch out for Dockitis – that tendency to just stay and be comfortable where one is.

Things are slowly improving here after a previous manager retired. A new small bathhouse is being built way down by Dock 14 (we are on Dock 2 so it won’t be used by us), the lounge/laundry in the small bathhouse by us was repainted and a new floor laid while the large bathhouse by Dock 9 is being added on to and will be twice the size and have a deck on it. Since that is where the gatherings happen – holidays, Happy Hour and dominoes – it will be great when it is done. They have even updated the internet system. There was some improvement afterwards but it wasn’t until we installed a Wi-Fi booster/hot spot here on Eos that things got really fast. Finally we have good internet access. It was a pain to have it so slow and then it would often drop out, of course, when you were doing something important like banking. And so more livability on Eos. Hurrah!!

We have had our first jelly fish invasion and have had to clean the little devils out of the water filters for the AC units. We learned form others that when the jelly fish are here in mass that is an almost daily activity. We hope we will miss the heavy influx of the little devils while we are away for a month. At least we will have a break from them.

We will be leaving on 7/17 and driving to MN by way of NC and MO. We will be in MN 2 ½ weeks to see Drs, friends and family and then will swing down through NE for Sylvia’s 50th high school class reunion. And how did that time pass while my back was turned?!?!? Then it will be back through MO again and back to GA for more livable summertime.