Bonnie

Hi All,

Ok so we’re getting slack about posting- mostly it’s because we’re not doing exciting stuff like we were in the Bahamas, but we’re having fun picking our way up the east coast on the ICW.  

After we left Fernandina, we took the very short hop up to Cumberland Island and had a terrific day biking and exploring there with Z-Raye.  Lots of horses and, of course, lots of bugs.

After Cumberland we braved Jekyll creek (at HIGH tide only- we saw areas that were less than 4 feet at low tide. Yikes!) and anchored near Jekyll Island. The bikes went ashore, but we would have been alright without them.  We saw all the charming historical district and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center which is fascinating.  Whoever thought of rescuing sea turtles?

From there we went to Brunswick and into a marina for several days.  We met up with Kent and Heather from Miss Adventure.  They are leaving their boat for several months while they spend 3 months on their OTHER boat- a canal boat in France.  What a rotten life they have.  Oh yeah, and they spend the ski season in Beaver Creek.  It just gets worse and worse, doesn’t it?  We had a great time seeing them for a few days.  They even had a car and were kind enough to run us around to do some errands.  It was wonderful to see them since it will be a while before we get to party with them again. 

We left Brunswick headed for St. Simon’s, but were waylaid by a huge thunderstorm which forced us to pull over to the side of the ICW and anchor for the night.  There were an incredible number of lightning strikes all around, but, fortunately, none that hit Good Morning Vietnam.  The weather forecasts were calling for tornadoes so, all in all, we felt pretty lucky to just get wet!

The next morning we were up and ready to go at 6:30 so we could get on to St. Simons and tour Ft Fredrica. Though the storms were gone it was 8:45 before we could see well enough to move due to a thick fog. Once at St Simons we had to brave a mud flat to get to the National Park Service dock.  That stuff is so sticky- somebody should tell NASA.  And let’s not even talk about the deer flies.  It was about 8:00 and nearing dusk when we biked back to our dinghy and I thought we were going to be eaten alive before we could get away.  It was incredible.

On our way up to Savannah, we encountered a wonderful sight.  There were 7 or 8 dolphins with what appeared to be newly-born calves.  All the younguns were swimming right next to their Mommas.  It was terrific to watch them circle and play.  Daddy was making large, protective circles at the periphery.  What a morning.  We eventually had to press on and anchored that night in the middle of NOWHERE.  A place called Big Tom Creek.  Bright and early the next morning we left for Savannah and have been here, at anchor in Herb River for 4 days.  We took a walking tour with Savannah Dan which was really informative and entertaining, hit a few bars on River Street, and did a lot of walking around. 

Right now we’er just sitting here waiting for this tropical storm Bonnie to move through so we can continue northward.  

Oh yeah, we also spent an afternoon at Camping World looking at travel trailers.  You may guess at the next adventure we have planned………

Susan (with a few edits from Brian)

Long Time No Post

Hi All,
Once again I've been remiss by not posting updates. This will be a quick (you know that isn't true) catch up for where we've been and what we've done since Fort Pierce.

From Fort Pierce we motored up the ICW to Melbourne Beach. We spent two nights on our anchor here. The first day we walked over to the Atlantic side and took a stroll down the beach and did some grocery shopping. The second day we did very little until the evening when we had Paul and Jenny (Pelican) and Ted and Claire (Another Life) over for drinks. It was good to catch up with Another Life and to make some new friends, Pelican.

Sunday, May 1, we motored up to Merritt Island and dropped anchor. There we met Lynn Swanson, a longtime friend of Susan's, for dinner. When we were on the west coast of Florida, before going over to the Bahamas, we met Lynn and her husband Tom for dinner at Clearwater Beach. We're glad they have been willing to drive from Orlando to meet us on both coasts of Florida.

Monday we moved up to Ponce Inlet and anchored off Sea Love Marina. What a name!  We visited the lighthouse (not actually going up to the top). There was a lot to see on the ground including touring the buildings where the lighthouse keepers worked and lived s well as a lot of history and information about Fresnel Lenses.

Wednesday, May 4, we moved up to Daytona Beach. Here we had to take a stroll on the fabled beach.

On Thursday, I succumbed to temptation and we toured Daytona International Speedway. It was cool!

Me kissing the start / finish line at Daytona

Susan and I in Victory Lane

The Start / Finish line goes all the way into the stands. S/V Good Morning Vietnam was here!

Friday we motored up to St Augustine where we met back up with Andrew and Sharon on Z-Raye. Here we took a mooring ball at the city marina. St Augustine is the oldest city in the US. We spent several days in St Augustine with Drew and Sharon. We took a tram tour around the city, went to a Organ and Violin concert at the oldest catholic church in the US, toured Flagler College and the St Augustine Distillery (free samples!).

Magnolia Street in St Augustine. Now lined with Oak trees due to a freeze that killed all the magnolias back in the 1800's.

Read the sign in the previous picture to understand why the door to this Wells Fargo branch still has the door from the Woolworth's that was there previously.

No free samples of the Bourbon as none of it is ready yet. There were free samples of the gin and rum they've been making though.

Z-Raye and us left St Augustine, went outside and tried to sail up to Fernindina Beach on Amelia Island. We tried but there wasn't much wind so we motor sailed all the way up. The sail was getting us half a knot.

Good Morning Vietnam passing through the Bridge of Lions in St Augustine. Thanks for the picture Z-Raye!

At Fernindina Beach we anchored next to Z-Raye and spent a few days there before renting a car and driving to Charlotte, NC to attend the wedding of the daughter of one of Susan's dear friends Francis and Vinny. Z-Raye stayed in Fernindina Beach while we were gone to watch our boat and make sure it didn't float off.

A picture from Sharon to let us know Good Morning Vietnam was doing fine.

They very much enjoyed Fernindina Beach. We enjoyed our road trip to Charlotte, the wedding was outdoors, in the country and both fun and beautiful. On Friday, while Susan was getting her hair done, I visited Hendrick Motorsports. If you aren't a NASCAR fan, you won't understand.

Entrance gate

In2004 a private plane owned by Hendrick Motorsports crashed on approach to Martinsville Virginia. Rick Hendrick's brother, two nieces, his son Ricky and 6 others were killed. This is the memorial fountain built between the 5 / 24 and 48 / 88 shops. A marker with the names of each person killed is in the fountain.

That's all for now as we need to get moving to Jekyll Island. I'll write more this weekend.

Take care.
Brian

Miscellaneous pictures from the last week

A rainbow as we cross the Gulf Stream

Osprey hunting over the ICW

All along the ICW platforms have been put on the channel markers for Osprey to make their nest.

It's that time of year

Mom with her babies

One of many large homes along the ICW

National Navy UDT - SEAL Museum

Hi All,
As I said in my last post, we went to the National Navy UDT - SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce. Fort Pierce is where the first "frogmen" trained during WWII. A lot of interesting things both inside and outside the museum.

If you saw the movie Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks, you know the story of the Maersk Alabama. The actual life boat from the Maersk Alabama, the real one not the one used in the movie, is in the museum. Complete with windows shattered by the bullets from the Navy SEALs. I still find their marksmanship amazing.

Here are a few pictures I took around the building.

The front door, just to the right is a simulated SEAL obstacle course. As you enter the yard the sign above you reads "The only easy day was yesterday".

I really don't know what to say other than thank goodness they are out there protecting us.

Mural on the outside back wall of the building.

Any questions?

Brian