Daufuskie Island

Came upon a sailboat race on the Wilmington River, just south of Savannah. We tried to pass them unobtrusively but there was no wind, as you can see by the state of our Looper Flag in the pictures. We were going 3 knots but they seemed to be standing still. Didn’t hang around to see who won.

Passed the cemetery touted in the book “In the Garden of Good and Evil”

Daufuskie Island once had a small native population (direct descendants of slaves brought from Africa) who lived an isolated life having little contact with the outside world. Nowadays, inspired by Hilton Head, it undergoes an extensive development of its own.

Headed for Beaufort, S.C. and its Downtown Marina. No chance to try out the dinghy.

The ICW is very windy and wind-y in Georgia.  Lots of time to look around. We are on our way to Turner Creek to get some exercise walking or biking to get provisions.  The dinghy will be put to good use again.

The Looper Flag American GreatLoop Cruising Association

Jekyll River Ga

the inlet to Blackbeards hideaway

Denny and his many chart plotters

Skidaway River

If you put your cursor over each picture you can see a caption.

The AGLCA flag identifies you as a genuine “Looper”.  We have seen about 8 looper boats along the way but only had the ability to talk to one so far. We are looking forward to spending time with all of them along the way.

It seems we will not get into shore tonight. “That damm connection”! I have been out in the dinghy three times, two of those Denny needed to row us back to the boat. I guess we will never see Turner Creek Ga.

Word Press, the domain for this blog, has help they call the “Happiness Engineer”

He helped me load this video I tried to show you a few blogs ago.

Dolphins love to play in the bow waves of the boat and I love to watch the dolphins.

A calm run north, shorts and tee shirts weather, it is balmy. The island is in sight.         The anchorage is peaceful and shared with many others.

Launching the dinghy, the first time in two months.  The motor has been overhauled, the clamps reattached, the davit motor replaced, as were all the lines.  

Launch successful!

We rode to shore and shared the darkening path with a beautiful doe, a raspy armadillo and lots of dung.

It is dusk in Cumberland Island Georgia, fifty miles of maritime forest trails, undeveloped beaches, wide marshes and 150 wild horses that have survived here since the Spanish set them free.

Sunny but cold!   It is 45 degrees and the wind is blowing hard and steady.

Luckily we are ensconced in Palm Harbor Marina in Jacksonville. Visiting with Valerie and Kevin, doing our laundry and being driven from boating supply store, to drug store, to the grocery store, we need a Valerie at every port of call.

Oil change? 6 gallons of waste?  A hazardous waste dump is 45 miles away. Once a year there is a satellite pick up about 2 miles from you. What day is today? That day!! What Luck! Everyone there loved Valerie’s sunglasses.

Alarm bell sounds and a scrolling red bar comes across the screen.       NOAA Alert!!

Gale force winds for St Augustine and north, winds 34 to 47 knots, seas building 8 to 11 ft. Highly recommended that you seek a safe harbor.

We are approaching our anchorage for the night. Other boats are anchored there they haven’t run for the hills yet. The current is running north to south, the winds south south east and the tide is coming in. The boat will not stay steady enough to put out the anchor. The man on the sailboat behind us is carefully watching and cringing every time we blow near. The anchor set on the fourth attempt.

Dream Seeker and its captain are challenged but they persevere.  Take all the electronics off the bridge and hunker down for the continuous rain and wind through the night.

Up early, the warning is still there but the sun is shining. We are heading to Jacksonville to spend the weekend at a secluded marina. There is more bad weather on the horizon.

The chart plotter documented the path of the boat during the night.

Denny and Ken

City Marina

Pons inlet lighthouse New Smyrna

Visited with Ken Nies, a Seacraft buddy, at the New Smyrna City Marina. Toasted the voyage with a little Pappy Van Winkle and dinner at the “Outrigger”.

I could not get the nail on the hook, more credit to Pappy.

Critters, critters and more critters,

Swoosh, crash into the sea, the pelicans are putting on a show.It is late evening and the mullet are running.  The birds get one about every 5 dives.

The lore is that pelicans starve to death because they cannot see to fish as they get older.   Easy to believe!!

Underway in the morning and the dolphins are prevalent and beautiful.

They love to ride the bow waves.  I have a great video I will post it when I figure out how.

The Nina and the Pinta and five hundred school age children, at our dock this morning, no Santa Maria, Columbus didn’t like the clumsy vessel.

Torrential rain, high winds and grey skies, 8am and the fuel man is knocking at the door.  How did that fuel get in the bilge?? Where is the “Dawn”,  “where is the bilge pump, that bilge was spotless yesterday.”   Leak check  — all is well.

It is 2PM –We haven’t left the dock yet.

The buoys are in, the electric cords are aboard and the last line is detached from the boat.  Dream Seeker is on her way, Vero Beach next port. We are to meet the Freemans, fellow “Loopers”, for dinner.