From Amelia Island, Florida to Brunswick, Georgia

Here we are again. We are staying an additional day because the weather looks iffy on Friday - the winds are supposed to increase to 20mph out of the north with a chance of rain. Our next leg of the journey is planned to be 65 miles northward, so into a north wind would be a miserable day. Plus, we are still a little apprehensive about the depth of Georgia waters. We spent the day today exploring Brunswick, GA on foot. What a friendly town! The dog is welcome in all the shops except the restaurants. But even the people in the restaurant brought water out to him. The main street looks like Collinsville did in 1950 - old shop fronts and brick and stone buildings. Every block has a little green inset area and the sidewalks are lined with big old trees. This town seems to be in a real revival. We spent this morning washing the boat and waxing all the bright work. A clean boat always runs better. I also recalibrated the air conditioning so it more accurately reflects the real temperature in the cabin. Then Linda and I spent several hours, her topsides me below, going over the various charts, guidebooks, tide tables and maps, that we have on board. We are trying to get more comfortable in the low country of marshland, creeks, and tidal basins, that we are in. Most of the other boats left today for other ports so we are mostly alone on the dock. We have several restaurants to choose from tonight and we made sure to tire out Cory so he will want to sleep while we go out to dinner. We also moseyed over to a farmer’s market that was set up in a building just about 100 yds from the marina. There we picked up fresh fruits and salad makings. Linda has also been using the free laundry way more than is necessary. Everytime something gets dirty she washes it just because it’s free. Everything on the boat has been washed here at least once. Ken

Friday morning - good thing we decided to stay in port today. The wind is steady out of the NE at 20 mph with gusts to 30 and the sky looks like rain. We tried to rent a car to explore but none of the rental agencies have any??? Our free wi-fi is down and the free coffee is not being made today because the dockmaster is out sick. At least Linda still has free laundry.Ken

I LOVE that I don’t have to PAY to do laundry! (Boy, do I need to get a life!) Just a lazy day of chart -plotting and cleaning & exploring the town. I found a deserted park that had a handicapped access area with musical wood blocks and a primitive xylophone. What a neat place. It’s kind of like a ghost town, though- barely anyone here and all this space! People are extra friendly, and the weather today is beautiful. Tonight Ken has offered to try my mogul hill of a “bed”, while I’ll try his low-ceiling cavern of a bed in the aft. We’ll let you know how this turns out! I bet it will mess the dog up! Love to all- Linda

Friday, April 20- Just a few more thoughts re: “I’m not in Kansas anymore”….
Somewhere between Northern Florida and Northern Georgia (the cultural line is very blurred, even according to people who live here)- the word “Hello” changed to “Hey”.
“How are you?” changed to “What’s up?” or “How you?”. And “Where are you” is ALWAYS “Where you at?” I’m just noticing this- not judging or complaining. The poor dog has been picking up NASTY burrs in his paws in Northern Florida and here in Southern Georgia. He is getting very good at chewing them out.
And in the sleeping arrangement department….We each slept great in the other person’s spot. But Ken did notice the bumps- so I think I’ll be nice and take back the mogul hill bed. Cory, however, always sleeps with me where he’s safe from being kicked!

Sunset over Amelia Island- very colorful from all the smoke from the Georgia fires.
No, this is NOT fog, it's the smoke from the Georgia fires MILES away- the visibbility was down to 1/4 mile and starting to get un-nerving.

Amelia Island Yacht Basin- the sky is grey from smoke from- you guessed it- the Georgis fires!

Our welcome to the Amelia Island Yacht Basin - this is the gas dock. The water is 3' deep here right now but about 6 hours later that ramp was level with the top of the bulkhead. This really is not a YACHT basin, it's just a small cut out square of water, probably 400 yds. X 200 yds. off the ICW. They are very accomodating to transients but it was only an overnight stop for us.

The current was running with us as we headed northward - an incoming tide. Thru this cut, we had just gone under a bridge, the current was probably close to 5 mph. Not a problem for us but the trawlers and sailboats that have to go against the current can barely make headway. At first I thought we had engine problems because, heading into a strong current, the boat speed was 5 mph lower than it should have been at that RPM - then the current became visible by a marker.

We finally found some waterfront property in Georgia that we can afford.

We let Cory go for just a second and he ran to the police. Fortunately for us, the cop was eating lunch. We were able to drag Cory away before he could file a complaint. He remains our captive.