11/11/21 ~ Jekyll Island GA to Fernandina, FL

Today:           30.8 miles             6.3 hours           ICW ST Mile: 716.8
Total:           863.0 miles        223.55 hours

Bailey Chillin'

     It was cool in the high 50’s, still and cloudy. No rain in the area.
     We were preparing to leave when we met John from MY JOY, a beautiful 65 Fleming from Annapolis. Who knows, we might meet up with them on Friday for dinner at The Salty Pelican.
     Heading out into St Andrews Sound, we were 1 of 5 sailboats and 3 power boats heading south. This is the first time in a long time that we were part of a convoy.
     Once again, the current gods look upon us with favor. At least half of our journey was with the current. Coming down the Cumberland River, however, we were not very lucky. We only did 4.4 to 5 mph depending on the width of the waterway.

   We saw a large sub being worked on at St Mary’s Naval Base. I tried for a photo with my phone, but is wasn’t good. Pete was on a conference call and tried to get one also. His was much better!

 
MY ARRIVA

      At Fernandina, we were directed to slip in behind MY ARRIVA for fuel. She is a magnificent motor yacht reminiscent of the yachts of the 1930s and 40s. When we looked her up and this is what we found:

  

Glad this isn't our fill up!

 Beautiful and distinguished, 48m/156ft motor yacht ARRIVA (formerly: AMPHITRITE) from Turkish shipyard Turquoise Yachts was previously owned by film star Johnny Depp and currently belongs to J.K. Rowling. Built from steel and aluminum in 2001 and refitted in 2008, luxury yacht ARRIVA has exterior styling completed by Taka Yachts and the Turkish themed interiors are the work of LM Pagano Design. The accommodation sleeps up to 10 guests over five sumptuous cabins. Comes with a crew of 9. 2-480 Hp CAT engines gives her a maximum speed of 13.5 knots or cruising speed of 12.5 knots.

     Checked with NORTH STAR. They are on their way to New Smyrna Beach. They will definitely beat us to Ft Pierce.
 

PEKABU at the dock

   Pete worked while I cleaned up. He can’t order the pipe clamps from Amazon and receive them in time. He also cannot confirm that they are made in America. He is beginning to think that the clamps were made in China, hence the short life. We will borrow the car at Comachee for a run for groceries and clamps. We’ll wait to rent a car to transfer our car to Ft. Pierce.
     I sat above, wrote todays blog and enjoyed the people walking by to admire ARRIVA (Spanish for COME).
     Pete suggested we head over to Brett’s Waterfront Café for dinner for a salad. Prior to the huge Chicken Caesar Salad, we had delicious soup. He had the Loaded Potato while I had the Shrimp Bisque. YUM! We were too full to have desert.

 

  

Tonight's sunset clouds

Friday, 11/12/21 Fernandina ~ Day 2
 

   Full day work for Pete after he replaced the impeller on the engine water pump. I did chores then walked around town. Fernandina is such a cute and picturesque town. took lots of photos .

MY ARRIVA heading south & to new owners

City Hall clock tower, the Post Office and a side street view

Bret's Waterfront Café and RR Historical Placard

 
Information Center and view of Centre Street / Fernandina's main street

Butterflies ~ NOT pealing paint! AND Bank Vault's inner workings

  

Darling Mailbox and more interesting jewelry

 

Views of Centre Street
 

Artistry of Mother Nature . . .                                 

  

                                              . . .and the Blue Door Artists Gallery

 
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . . .

 

 
Tonight's Sunset

     After a beautiful sunset, we headed over to The Salty Pelican. Great crab dip, fish & chips as well burger. The country singer who entertained us was pretty good too. We weren’t able to catch up with MV JOY, but still had an enjoyable night

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~  K & P  

11/10/21 ~ Kilkenny to Jekyll Island, GA

Today:           72.0 miles              10.6 hours          ICW ST Mile: 613
Total:            832.2 miles           217.25 hours

     We had to wait for nautical twilight and was underway by 6:30. It was a magnificent sunrise. Temps in the mid-50 and winds were fairly still. Pete navigated through low tide in the Kilkenny River. There was nothing less than 9 feet under the keel following the deepest contours. Since the GPS isn’t working, we couldn’t follow yesterday’s tracks.

 

  

 

 

Dawn from First Light to Sunrise ~ Absolutely Breathtaking!

     Passing St Catherine’s Sound, we could see and feel the ocean swells, but they were only about a foot now that they are dissipating.
     Doboy Sound we saw a fisherman coming in, outriggers out, no nets, but plenty of birds, all over including the cabin top!

 

     Going through Little Mud River at high tide wasn’t a problem. We had 10 feet under keel. Low tide would have been an entirely different matter. With 9 foot tide, and 5 foot keel, we’d be in a really bad way! No way could we travel through it.

 

The last of the GOLDEN RAY has been removed

     Jekyll Creek has on spot in front of the closed dock where, at low tide, we would have been sitting on the mud. We did well today, with all the ebbs and flows from the inlets, the current gods were with us for the better part of the day . . and no skinny water!!!

Bridge Fender & Friends
Jekyll Creek

  
     When we called for dock assignment, surprisingly, we were directed to the inside slips. As we rounded the end of the dock, the depth gage showed 4.5 feet. No way could we possibly leave at low tide in the morning. Thankfully, we were directed to the fuel dock with the stipulation that we be gone before 8am opening. No problem.
     Once docked, Pete had a conference call until 6:15.

     Pete insisted on staying at the helm due to the tricky spots. No just the shallows, which weren’t a problem due to high tide, but also the swirls in the currents that make steering a challenge. Needless to say, a long, intense day plus a challenging work project made for a very tired person. He fell asleep after dinner, and I had to wake him at bedtime. He had no problems falling back to sleep.

 

     Sunset was stunning!

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~    K & P

11/9/21 ~ Thunderbolt to Kilkenny, GA

Today:           30.6 miles           5.0 hours           ICW ST Mile: 613
Total:           760.2 miles      206.65 hours

  
Views from Thunderbolt Marina ~

The docks, the debris on the river, a boat on a soft float, and pelican taking off

 

     We were awake around 7 so we figured we’d leave considerably earlier than 9. I walked Bailey as Pete did an engine check. I came back to find Pete grumbling and poking around the engine. The other day, when he cleaned out the sea chest, he cut his arm when closing the through hull valve to the engine. He figured that when the new heat exchanger was installed one of the hose clamps was now in the way. We’ll. . . Pete found out that the mounts to the heat exchanger had broken and the entire unit was sitting on the engine AND the transmission! Thankfully, he found it before it caused problems. He didn’t have the proper size, heavy duty clamps, but did have hose clamps that worked. The question remains: Why? Pete is positive that the vibration is coming from the engine mounts. They have been repeatedly checked and repeatedly reported as still good. Pete spoke to Pedro in Ft Pierce about replacing them this winter.
     Jim, MV TWINS, stopped by as we were preparing to leave. “Twins” refers to his granddaughters, which are with him on this cruise. He told us about his stop on Daufuskie Island, north of the Savannah River. It is an up-and-coming place; vibe is very “Key West.” Locals come to hang out. He helped us away from the dock at 8:40.

Dock house south of the marina

     We were passed by a beautiful Down Eastern power boat. They proceeded to just meander. As we started to pass them, they moved in front of us again. Pete slowed down to let them pass. They then started to head towards a creek to port, but then changed their minds. They then paralleled us on the ICW and then finally accelerated!     It was great cruising in the high 8s with the current on the Skillaway River. We had no problem with Hell’s Gate. We went through at almost high. We are still seeing unusually high tides. Those who know say it will take a few days to return to normal.

  

Georgia's ICW

 
     Kilkenny is 17 miles from Thunderbolt as the crow flies. It is 36 miles as the rivers flow!!! 2.5 hours vs 5+ hours with the ebb and flow of the various currents.

     It was a day for great nature watching:

Eagle pair with their huge nest

Dolphins

 

Eagle Pair, Egrets in the bush, and landing

 
White Pelicans and Brown in flight

  

Fisherman in the high waters

     I walked dog and was awed by the Live Oak next to the office. She is huge. Staff said that “those who know such things suspect the tree is over 450 years old. Can you imagine the history it has been witness to?”

 Magnificent 450 + year old Live Oak Tree

 
Views of Kilkenny Marina

     Pete had to work and there was an important conference call at 4 he had to attend. It was very hard to get and keep a signal. Pete put the MiFi in a dry bag and sent it up the mast. He then went ashore for his conference call. No problem with signal, but plenty of problems with the midges! 

     Once back on board, he checked engine. One of the 2 clamps placed on the heat exchanger already broke after 4.5 hours of use! He put 2 new clamps to join the one still holding. When he can, he will order a lot of extra clamps in the size he needs to hold it in place until Ft Pierce. Unfortunately, it is in a terrible spot to work on. His hands and arms are all scratched.

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~ K & P

11/8/21 ~ Beauford SC to Thunderbolt, GA

Today:          46.1 miles           7.8 hours           ICW ST Mile: 582.4
Total:          729.6 miles      201.65 hours
 

   Before we pulled away from the dock, we had a chance to talk with the crew moving a 70 MCY, MY 24/7, one of the boats on out “Lottery Win Dream Boats” list. The owners of a sister ship love this boat so much, they were one of the first to order a new one with the enclosed bridge. (That one is higher up on our wish list!)
 

   We departed by 7:30 in order to be at SH Port Royal Marina at 8, when they open. We need fuel. The dock master was there to answer our hail at 7:50 even though they don’t open until 8. The super high tides pinched wires for power to the southern docks. She had to meet the electrician earlier. She helped us dock and handed us the diesel nozzle to pump as she helped 2 other boats depart. We still hadn’t pumped when she returned due to a different flow switch, which had been turned off during the extreme high tides and not yet turned back on. As a result, we didn’t leave their dock until 8:45. That was a concern as we have to make the 4pm opening of Causton Bluff Bridge before they close it for 2 hours due to traffic.
     The run down the Beauford River was very slow (4.9. - 5.4 mph due to the incoming tide.) We had the current crossing Port Royal Sound. It was nice doing 8+ even if it is only for a short while. We actually cruised at 9.1-9.4 mph on the New & Cooper Rivers, Walls & Fields Cuts.
 

Safe Harbor Thunderbolt Marina

 
   Once docked, I fed and took Bailey for a walk while Pete worked until 6. After dinner, we just chilled.
     We only have about a 4.5-hour cruise to Kilkenny, so we won’t have to leave at sunrise.

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~   K & P