Blog Post #4 April 10 - April 25


As much as we enjoyed Jacksonville, it was good to head north again and leave the wide and roiling St Johns River behind and rejoin the the narrow and scenic ICW once more. The sun was shining, the expansive marshes and inlets were close by once again. Maybe little too close as it turns out. Chugging along, to all intents and purposes in the marked channel, aground we go. Unwisely taking the advice of a passing fisherman we tried to pull off with our anchor which just got the anchor stuck, but never mind, the tide was rising and after a time we were on our way again, with a “teachable moment” on the ever changing shoaling along “the ditch” under our belts.

We spent two nights at Fernandia Beach which is a charming town with good restaurants and good biking.

La Espana, Fernandina Beach

Rode out along a lovely shaded road to Fort Clinch State Park, a living history site, with uniformed civil war guides. It was a Union Fort that never saw any fighting so a great post for the boys that got sent there, although they couldn’t have know this at the time.

View from Fort Clinch

St Simons, Georgia - farewell Florida- where our marina provided a courtesy car for re-provisioning. We took the opportunity to get take-out at a highly recommended barbecue place and got back just as the rain was beginning, so a cozy dinner aboard. This part of the ICW is famous for high tides, swift currents and heavy shoaling. Georgia and South Carolina are one of the most isolated sections of the trip, and for some, according to our Skipper Bob book, its a very unpopular stretch, but we loved it.

Miles and miles of winding channels through the Georgia grasslands, saw one or two other boats at most and we were alone at our anchorage on Teakettle Creek for the night. These parts have not changed for many a century.
 

 The Marshes of Glynn                   
…By a world of marsh that borders a world of sea.
  Sinuous southward and sinuous northward the shimmering band
  Of the sand-beach fastens the fringe of the marsh to the folds of the land.
Inward and outward to northward and southward the beach-lines linger and curl
As a silver-wrought garment that clings to and follows
    the firm sweet limbs of a girl.
Vanishing, swerving, evermore curving again into sight,
Softly the sand-beach wavers away to a dim gray looping of light.
And what if behind me to westward the wall of the woods stands high?
The world lies east: how ample, the marsh and the sea and the sky!
A league and a league of marsh-grass, waist-high, broad in the blade,
Green, and all of a height, and unflecked with a light or a shade,
Stretch leisurely off, in a pleasant plain,
To the terminal blue of the main.
Oh, what is abroad in the marsh and the terminal sea?
  Somehow my soul seems suddenly free
From the weighing of fate and the sad discussion of sin, …

Sidney Lanier Born in Macon, Georgia, in 1842, he fought in the Civil War played flute, and eventually died from tuberculosis contracted as a prisoner of war.

Apparently Georgia school children used to have to memorize this poem, which seems like asking a lot (it goes on for a long while).

American Oyster Catcher  & Great Egret

Thunderbolt GA, was our stop for alternator repair, and access to the gracious and elegant city of Savannah. Joel’s bike needed a fix, so we folded it up, put it in the bag and hailed a taxi into town.
While waiting for the repair we wandered into a delightful bookstore with multiple used copies of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil , by John Berendt which came out in 1994, and according to our bicycle guide (best way to tour any city) contributed greatly to bringing attention and tourists to Savannah like never before. The book was on the Times Best Seller list for four years, and, according to Dee (sole proprietor of Savannah Bike Tours), there are still people not speaking to each other as a result of the revelations it contains. Mind you the events described happened in the early 80’s…Its a good read, still, and the city is truly gorgeous. 

This is the infamous house

After another solitary anchorage in Bryan Creek we  had a very pleasant couple days in the Port Royal Landings Marina. We attended a boater and “villagers”  potluck and were made to feel quite welcome. Many of the marinas we have seen also have condos, or in this case very sweet cottage houses for those who may or may not have a boat at the marina. Many of the residents are from up north, no surprise, and happy to be south.  We had a lovely four mile bike ride into Beaufort, yet another southern city full of charm and interesting history. 

Live Oaks are treasured, for good reason

The next day we attended Port Royal’ soft shell clam festival, and even better, went to the incredible heron, anhinga, egret rookery, right in the middle of town.

Our next anchorage was the very beautiful Church Creek, which we shared with one other boat, First Snow,  Woolich ME. The main event was a very intense storm front that came though before dark. There was a lot of adrenaline flowing as we watched the lightning come down on all sides of us, and the wind and rain whip up to a frightening degree. But we held solid and didn’t get hit. And then the glorious calm. Next morning was calm and bright, a wood stork sentinel watched us leave. 

In Charleston we choose to stay at the Charleston Harbor Marina which is actually across the river in Pleasant Point.

Marina guests get to use the resort facilities- enjoyed the hot tub, lousy internet

Charleston is where the latest police shooting *of a black person, Walter Scott, happened, and the victim was from Pleasant Point which is hardly a slum. The papers were full of articles and editorials, but on the surface, which we are, by definition, all is calm and there is the appearance of a well integrated community. Charleston is another beautiful city, but we didn’t stay long enough to give it its due. 
* Sadly this is out of date since I first wrote it, see Baltimore.

But we had a horse carriage tour, and some good meals

Old  meat market Charleston

This is off Stem Creek, Pleasant Point

At our Whiteside Creek anchorage we were greeted by an ongoing rescue operation of this trawler and we were entertained over the course of several hours, well past dark, while the tide rose, watching two Two Boats US boats lifting and dragging the now crewless boat off the marsh banks.  An object lesson we hope not to repeat.
 

Stopped in Georgetown SC for a few days as we were getting nervous about getting north too fast and running into some cold. Georgetown's interesting because its old and charming with a lovely downtown and river walk and strong sense of community.

It also has an IP plant, a recycled steel plant and a marine cement company all within sight of the dock and when the wind comes from the west there is definitely a Eau de Millinockett.

 We went to Reform Services ( Jews been here since the 1700’s)

 attended the Rotary Annual Shag Festival (it's the jitterbug) and met the Deputy Chief of Police, Major Johnnie Deas. I think this woman should have her own TV show,  a high style black woman solving crimes in the Carolina Low Country.

It was also the blessing of the shrimp fleet, and the boats had a parade.

 

Blog post #3 April 1- April 9

The big announcement that was promised last time you will have probably already received in a separate email. To summarize, Joel has Parkinson’s and we are putting the extraordinary privilege of this trip in the service of raising awareness and understanding of PD, as well as raising some research money too. Go to http://support.pdf.org/onboardforPDcure for more details on our story.

It has been wonderful to hear from so many friends and relatives since we sent that announcement, and we are so grateful to have your support. Thank you.

Here are a few “at home” pictures.

Seder aboard,with more than a few boat modifications. A UU haggadah  in honor of our UU friends

Master stateroom

Guest quarters

Main Salon

You can see we are not exactly roughing it, Snow Goose is a very comfortable boat. But there are challenges. Although the to-do list is getting shorter, things like a broken bow thruster mean creative searching about for parts they don’t make any more. The boys found someone in Titusville who could rebuild it, and he did a wonderful job (think Foye Brown for those that know North Haven).











After we left Titusville we anchored in a most beautiful spot, barely a sign of human habitation, miles of salt marsh and birds and even a rainbow.



We spent a delightful few days in St Augustine while waiting for the bow thruster. St Augustine, established in 1565 and still there! Take that New England.












April 2 we left St A and the ICW to head up the St John’s River to Jacksonville in search of an alternator. Its always something on a boat. J & A spent the day trying to locate a new or rebuilt alternator to no avail. Stayed at a funky marina but mostly boat repair place. Of course arriving on a Friday means waiting until Monday for an open shop.


While at the Sadler Marina we met up with our first local Parkinson’s Research Advocates for lunch and had great time with them. Bill and Marilyn Wilson have done a ton of work in the Jacksonville area for PD, including presenting at numerous support groups, organizing seminars, and publishing the First Coast Parkinson’s Disease Newsletter. They had just gotten back from an adventure in Georgia where they did a lot of zip lines and and an obstacle course. They also went to Australia last year, Bill with a feeding tube in, because sometimes swallowing is difficult for people with PD - especially so his case. The good news is that with special swallowing therapy he is now tubeless and has gained 20 pounds.

Marilyn & Bill Wilson & our PD literature

While awaiting the alternator we took off up river and anchored in a tributary river, Black Cove, surrounded totally by trees and water. First launch of the inflatable kayak, I paddled while Janet rowed (actually we did a lot of just drifting) in serene quiet, except when the speeding boats (and there were quite a few on a Saturday,) came whizzing by.  Joel and Ansley on the boat, doing projects, as usual.
 



 
Back to the Ortega River and the very friendly and warm marina folks who led us to another old timer-fix- it-guy for the alternator. He rebuilt it for a song, and we were off the next morning to Jacksonville City Center just in time for “One Spark, The World’s Largest Crowdfunding Festival”, and our first presentation to a PD support group, arranged by our now good friends Bill and Marilyn who picked us up and otherwise took great care of us.

We are the experts?

One Spark is great fun, all these creative ideas looking for your vote and possibly your money. Those that get the most votes get substantial prize money, and they make it easy to donate with a smart phone app. You wander about and people pitch their passion, from how to heal Jacksonville through prayer, yoga in the prisons, solar powered clothing, obesity prevention, data glove with GPS embedded, you name it, art, music - over 550 projects in all. Some are looking for $5000, some for $500,000 or more.


 
 








 And great food and music. We really enjoyed Canary in the Coal Mine - the hot blond was our waitress the night before at Indochine Restaurant,  good waitress, and great music. Jacksonville is a really nice city, at least what we have seen so far. Lovely river frontage, lots of trees and parks, nice vibe.

 Today is bittersweet, we said goodbye to Janet and Ansley who have been with us since the beginning. Its not too much to say this trip wouldn't have been possible without them. Ansley and Joel spent all of February and beyond working on the boat. Ansley and Janet took the boat from the east coast to the west where we began the loop, both have been wonderful in sharing their accumulated wisdom from their many years of sailing, and they are great fun to have aboard. But now its time for us to see how it all works with two aboard. Stay tuned!