March 2024 - Cruising Starts Again - Sort of!

 March 2024  - Trial cruise from Brunswick Landing to Port 32 Jacksonville.

Ya Hoo!!   A new year and our first cruise.  My second eye surgery was on January 11.  Wound up needing a partial cornea replacement. Thankful for the generosity of the unknown donor.  Dr. seems pleased. At my 1+ month follow-up I was able to make out a few of the fuzzy letters on the 20/70 line on the eye chart which put me a bit ahead of schedule in recovery. Other benefit has been I'm able to tolerate sunlight much better.   All that said, with Martha's knee now in good shape and my vision back to being tolerable we decided to give it a shot at moving the boat ourselves from Brunswick Landing to Port 32 in Jacksonville.   Just two relatively short cruising days in pretty familiar waters.  Boat would then be 2 hours away so I could still easily drive down to get a few projects done, have it detailed and get the bottom cleaned before starting our real cruising.  

Thurs February 29. 

Our friends Maurice and Karen from the upstate area were driving down to the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance car show for the weekend.  They were able to stop in Richmond Hill for lunch and then we all headed down to Brunswick.   We initially met while attending Porsche high performance track days and later learned they also had a house and boat on our old stomping grounds of Lake Hartwell.  They followed our Loop adventure and were interested in seeing our new boat.  Great to show them around and spend a few hours before they headed to the car show.   Perhaps we'll be able to get them on board for a few days once we start traveling north.

Friends Maurice and Karen visit the boat

Friday March 1.  Brunswick Landing to Sisters Creek   7.25 hours 65 miles

We were at Brunswick Landing for 3 months and our biggest regret was not taking better advantage of the marina.   They have a very active social calendar with something going on most every day.  Yoga in the morning, craft sessions, technical talks, chats around the fire pit, free beer/wine socials on M/W/F.  A fantastic clubhouse, huge library, fitness equipment. 3 spotless and new bathhouses with free laundry. Walking distance to downtown restaurants (and a brewery).  And very convenient for us being just an easy 1 hour drive down I-95. 

We planned for a 9 AM departure to work a rising tide going through the notoriously shallow waters at Jekyll Island. Weather forecast was cloudy, low 60's, light wind and spotty rain so the decision to drive from the pilothouse was a no brainer. There's always a pretty extensive checklist to go thru after the boat has been sitting awhile.  Fluid checks, thru hulls open, fuel lines open, windows and ports closed, windless, bow thruster, stabilizer pump, stabilizer controls, nav lights, chart plotter, nav apps, radar, depth finders, cameras, life vests, flares, fire extinguishers, documentation papers, etc, etc, etc... We have 3 of the old style emergency signaling kits which I hate because they expire so quickly.  And of course these were all expired.  Glad we now carry one of the new style electronic signaling devices that keep us in compliance with CG requirements.  Just needed to install the batteries and verify it was working. All checks completed it was time to fire up the engines, check the gauges, check for shifting and throttle response, put on our marriage saver communication headsets and cast off the lines.

Working through the pre-departure checklist

Off the dock and heading out from Brunswick Landing

Pretty smooth traveling all day.  Made good time with the current working in our favor most of the trip. There were a few dolphins that welcomed us out on the water which was great to see. Not being sure how we would hold up physically, I had selected several potential places to stay the night along the way. Cumberland Island, Fernandina Beach, Amelia River and Sisters Creek. 

Nuclear sub was in port at Kings Bay so patrol boats were out in force.

Passed Cumberland and Fernandina feeling good and too early in the day to stop.  Looked over the anchorage at Alligator Creek on the Amelia River.  Wide open and exposed but with light winds would have been OK.  Decided we still had plenty of time to make the Sisters Creek free dock which would save us the hassle of anchoring and leave us with just an easy 3 hour trip.  We've stayed here several times, and it can be tricky because of the strong current and a narrowish channel and we were coming in with a strong outgoing current.  Luckily, there was room at the beginning of the dock so rather than motoring in and trying to do a 180 in the current we simply did our 180 at the entrance and backed our way in and over to the dock. Assisted a large sailboat who came in after us. They attempted the traditional enter and spin around method without success and had to abort. Second attempt with a simple side tie into the current was much more successful. Pleased with ourselves after a successful day one.

Journey for March 1, 2024

Sat March 2, 2024  Sisters Creek to Port 32 Marina  3 hours  25 miles

No hurry to get up and get off the dock with only a few hours of cruising ahead. Still overcast and light winds.   If rain arrives it will be later in the day and overnight. Dockmaster had confirmed our reservation and slip number at Port 32 when we drove down to drop off a vehicle earlier in the week.  Said he would be around until 3 on Sat so just radio for a hand when arriving.  By 10 AM the other boats at the dock had long since departed for points north and so we left too but headed south. Figured on a very leisurely pace down the St. Johns running against an outgoing tide. Very little shoreside activity at any of the Jaxport facilities.   No container ships, no cruise ships, no military vessels. 

Odd seeing so little activity happening along the waterfront

Pretty dull until a Jax fire boat came flying past us with lights flashing headed to downtown.  That was followed shortly afterwards by a radio broadcast about a possible jumper off the Main Street bridge. As we idled through Jacksonville and under the bridge there were several police and coast guard boats standing by, but not much activity.  We never could find any reports of an incident so figured it was our daily excitement but a false alarm. 

Heading into Jacksonville

Patrolling for possible "jumper" off bridge - false alarm.

The Ortega River entrance is always fun times.  There is no deep water entrance just a large expansive 6' deep shoal extending outward in every direction. We head in at dead idle watching the depth finder sounding off with constant readings of 1-2' under the keel.  The Ortega River Bridge tender responds quickly with an opening and we're soon beside Port 32 marina.   We try calling them but no response so just head for slip C-91.  No current, light breeze, a big slip with a full length finger pier so docking is pretty straight forward as we back in and get a hand from Kim and Chris on the boat next to us who grab our lines. Funny how the boating community can be so small at times.   They still remembered us and the boat from our visit last year!  

Journey for March 2, 2024