Trip Diary for January, 2010

December was a delightful month in Indiana with the usual doctor and dental visits plus wonderful holidays with our family: Christmas breakfast was with son John's family and dinner was in Noblesville with daughter Sandy's family.  Of course, there was the special pleasure of seeing our second great grandson, Noah Leitem, for the first time.  Larry enjoyed a unique treat of watching the Colts in their new Indy stadium with son-in-law Glen and granddaughter Samantha.  We flew back to Brunswick on the 29th.  The remaining couple days in 2009 were devoted to returning everything to its place aboard and watching football.  We enjoyed the warmer daytime temps (70).

Jan. 1-6; St. Simons Island, GA:  New Year's eve, Friday, was spent quietly aboard, but we did manage to see the new year in before retiring.  The year began with much cooler temps (land nighttimes reached as low as 24, but 32 was the lowest observed temperature aboard as the water is about 50 degrees).  The week has been so cold that the quieter, built-in electric heaters were insufficient so we switched to the higher capacity heat pumps.  Scheduled maintenance, laundry and quite a bit of football consumed the first week of the year.  We enjoyed returning to Wesley UMC Sunday.  On Wednesday the 6th, we drove 190 mi. to DeLand, FL to pick up Keith and Sharon Hawks and return them to the boat for cruising the St. Johns River in NE FL.

Thursday, Jan. 7: We cast off at a leisurely 8:30 AM, taking advantage of slack tide at Golden Isles and a rising tide in the very shallow area along Jekyll Island, for the 42 mi. cruise to Fernandina Harbor Marina on Amelia Island in FL. It was a beautiful, sunny day with 5 mph NW winds and a high of 57; thus, flat waters the entire trip.  The marina has recently installed new docks, restrooms and boaters' lounge.  Our 2 PM arrival allowed plenty of time for shopping in the delightful adjacent historic district before 6 PM good dinners at Mariner's Restaurant.

Jan. 8-9; St. Ortega, FL:  Friday a cold(er) front moved through overnight to provide clouds and intermittent light rain for the 47 mi. cruise through Jacksonville to The Marina at Ortega Landing.  This newly opened marina on the west side of Jacksonville provides outstanding facilities only 4 blocks from a significant shopping center.  Just before reaching the St. Johns River our DSC radio alarmed, receiving an emergency broadcast.  Unfortunately, the message did not contain the expected info about its source/position.  Soon the Coast Guard was asking all boats that had heard the broadcast to report in concerning their location plus antenna height.  Ultimately, it was concluded to be an accidental alarm from an unregistered radio.  Again, an early afternoon arrival provided time to relax and start a puzzle before walking to the shopping center for Panera dinners.  Upon returning we finished the 500-piece puzzle before bedtime.  We originally planned to leave Saturday, but upon rising decided to stay another day, primarily because of the cold weather and the fact our planned next stop at Outback Crab Shack on Six Mile Creek had no electricity.  We broke out another puzzle and worked it before walking to excellent dinners at the LongHorn Steakhouse with loopers Robert and Kay Creech, C-Life.

Sunday, Jan. 10: Needing to cover 71 mi. to reach Acosta Creek Marina south of Palatka, we dropped lines at 7:35 AM to view a beautiful Jacksonville skyline. With the air at 37 and the water at 40, the genny ran the entire trip to provide heat.  Just south of Palatka, as the river's character dramatically narrows to become more scenic, we spotted our first eagle.  We saw no other moving boats the entire trip!  Arriving at our rather remote destination at 2:55, we set up the special f of the Lola Marie that Sharon and Keith had given us and subsequently enjoyed dinner aboard.

Jan. 11-18; St. DeLand, FL: After carefully dropping frozen lines, we departed Monday at 8:45 AM to enjoy the most picturesque St. Johns segment.  Soon after entering Lake George, we diverted to the beautiful Silver Glen Spring Run on the western shore.  This spring provides crystal clear, warm water all year and, as evidenced by numerous boats, provides outstanding fishing (mullet and bass).  We reached Hontoon Landing Resort & Marina at 3:35 PM where we stayed a week awaiting new crew from Gainesville.  After settling in, we took the dinghy up the nearby Hontoon Dead River expecting to see a plethora of aquatic life as we had 3 years earlier.  Due to the cold weather, we were disappointed; no alligators/crocodiles, a few birds including wild turkeys, and several deer.  Upon returning, we drove into town for excellent dinners at Bill and Frank's Brickhouse Grill.  Tuesday morning work continued on the exceeding difficult Lola Marie puzzle before a brief drive to McDonalds for lunch.  In the afternoon we took the dinghy 2.5 mi. south on the St. Johns to Blue Springs State Park to observe dozens of manatee wintering in the spring's daily 100 million gallon discharge of crystal clear 72 degree water. We then continued to tour the entire Hontoon Dead River around Hontoon Island State Park; total distance was about 8 mi.  There were more birds than yesterday, but still no alligators.  We enjoyed Mexican dinners at Mi Terra.  Keith and Sharon departed for IN at 7 AM Wednesday without a finished puzzle.  It was then laundry time for those left behind, but the record cold spell ended with afternoon temperatures in the mid-60s.  The quiet of no heat pumps was greatly appreciated!  Thursday was spent cleaning the boat, annotating 2 months of pictures, and enjoying temps in the 70's.  Larry grilled chicken for dinner aboard.  Enterprise picked us up Friday just before noon. This timing allowed Lola to have a nail fill and complete some grocery shopping after lunch at McDonalds.  Emmy's supplied good German-American cuisine for our evening dinner.  Saturday was a day for relaxing, playing games and watching a bit of football.  After the 11 AM service at Trinity UMC Sunday, we grocery shopped before returning to the boat for naps before the NFL play-off game between the Jets and Chargers.  The evening was devoted to the "boat puzzle", quitting when only the 16 remaining pieces didn't seem to fit anywhere.  When returning the rental Monday at 11 we spotted two beautiful sandhill cranes along the road, but were unable to get a picture.  Lola made a chocolate chiffon pie and baked muffins when we returned.  At 2:30 PM we took the dinghy 3 mi. up the Hontoon Dead River.  Wildlife was much more abundant in the warmer temps: many egrets, blue herons, other birds and 6 alligators, most about 6 ft. long with the biggest over 8 ft.  Bob and Virginia Peart arrived from Gainesville at 6:15 PM to accompany us on the down-river return to St. Simons.

Tuesday, Jan. 19: We cast off at 8:30 in beautiful sunshine with negligible wind; high for the day reached 70.  We spotted 3 eagles on the 50 mi. cruise downriver (going north) to Acosta Creek Marina.  Lola baked barbequed pork chops for a delightful dinner aboard.  The evening was devoted to playing bridge.

Wednesday, Jan. 20: For our longest leg of the return, 74 mi., we dropped lines at an earlier 7:30 AM.  Weather was again perfect for cruising.  After only an 8 min. wait for the Amtrak railroad bridge, we followed the recommendation in the Florida Cruising Directory and diverted a couple extra miles via the especially beautiful Murphy Creek.  We reached The Marina at Ortega Landing at 3:40 PM.  After showers, we walked 5 blocks to LongHorn Steakhouse for dinner before a bit of bridge.

Thursday, Jan. 21: As forecast, weather deteriorated overnight; temps were virtually constant at 60 all day.  Following a pumpout, we cast-off at a leisurely 8:40 to cruise through Jacksonville in light rain.  Just north of the Sisters Creek return to the ICW we encountered 5 mi. of fog that made spotting crab pots a challenge; fortunately, eyes of the extra crew helped.  We docked at an early 2:10 in rather heavy rain at Fernandina Harbor Marina.  Weather discouraged shopping, but after showers we enjoyed dinner at Mariner's Restaurant before an evening of bridge.

Friday, Jan. 22: Rain passed overnight.  Just after departure at 8:35 we stopped at Florida Petroleum to refuel; this required 45 min. as it entailed waiting for other boats to finish.  We spotted a single horse on Cumberland Island.  Weather was mostly sunny with 5-10 mi. winds.  1-2 ft. beam swells on St. Andrews Sound produced 30 min. of uncomfortable ride, the only such experience the entire trip.  We reached our winter "home dock", slip 3 in Morningstar Marinas at Golden Isles, at 2:15 PM, just after slack tide.  Following showers, we had noisy, but excellent dinners at Millhouse Steakhouse in Brunswick before returning to a final evening of bridge.

Saturday, Jan. 23: We drove 190 mi. to Hontoon Landing Resort & Marina so Pearts could pick up their car to return home in Gainesville.

Jan. 24-28; St. Simons Island, GA: Sunday began with an outstanding 10:45 service on forgiveness at Wesley UMC followed by an afternoon of NFL league championship football; fortunately, both our favorite teams won: the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints.  Monday and Tuesday were days with 20-30 mph winds devoted to mail shipments, laundry, banking, grocery shopping, updating a week of this web, and fixing light switches/fixtures aboard.  Lola got a nail fill Wednesday while Larry took the car to King's Colonial Ford in Brunswick to have its air conditioner repaired; that required ordering a new low pressure sensor that was leaking refrigerant.  Before returning to King's Thursday afternoon, Lola made one of Larry's favorite desserts, chocolate chiffon pie.  When the repair was completed we went to a movie: It's Complicated.  The movie and then pie capped a relaxing, beautiful day with 65 degree highs.  After some shopping on the island Friday we visited Fort Fredercia Monument on its north end.  Established in 1736 by James Oglethorpe, the Georgia colony founder and leader for its first decade, to protect Savannah and defend Britain's claim to the Georgia territory against counter claims by Spain for an expansive Florida territory, it provided a key victory at Bloody Marsh on St. Simons Island in 1742.  Amazing archeological and written history reveal many of the town's original home sites for 1,000 persons and the King's Magazine of the fort.  Saturday dawned raining with a 71 degree high, but cooling to an overnight low of 36; and ideal environment for an evening working on the tax filing.  Sunday was beautifully sunny, but 25 degrees cooler with 20 mph NNE winds.  Another outstanding sermon, this one on wealth and heaven, by Rev. John Stevens at Wesley UMC and our weekly brunch at Cafe Frederica completed the morning.  Larry grilled chicken on the marina's huge gas grill for dinner aboard.

Water miles traveled to date: 4,768; this month: 426

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