FAREWELL FL. / HELLO GA. & DISASTER

DAY 284, FRI APRIL 27, 2012

DEPART FERNANDINA BEACH 07:35

FAREWELL FL, WELCOME (?) GA.

We dropped our mooring at 07:35 and headed up Cumberland Sound.  The forecast called for sunny skies, winds SSW 8k-13k.  As we passed the inlet we encountered fog with  ¼ to ½ mile visibility, which I correctly predicted we would see, as soon as we got north of St. Mary’s Inlet. At approximately 08:00 we bid a final farewell to FL and entered Georgia.  We entered Florida on Dec. 6, 2011, four months and 1300 miles ago.  Now it would be clear sailing to St. Simon’s I., or so we thought.  As we passed the “R44A” to starboard we knew we now had to keep the green buoys to starboard, and steered for what I thought was the “G79”.  However, I was distracted by the Sub Degaussing station, and in particular by a southbound vessel heading straight for the “R44A”.  I thought the green buoy to his port was the G”79”, but it was the “G75”, and I headed straight for it completely missing the “G79”.  Mistake!  When the southbound boat saw me stop and turn, he realized his mistake and quickly stopped and turned.  My mistake was thinking he was heading down the channel and not checking the chart.   As I write this we are under tow on the way to Brunswick Harbor Marina, some 30 miles north.  We grounded, but were not stuck.  The problem was when I put the boat in gear and increased the rpm’s there was a bad vibration.  We called Tow boat US and had them tow us 30 miles to Brunswick Landing marina. 

A BIKE RIDE IN A NICE NEIGHBOORHOOD

THIS IS A BAHAMAS FLY FISHING CHARTER BOAT

   

DAY 285, 286, 287, 288, SAT THUR MON APRIL 29 – MAY 1,, 2012

AT BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA

The marina manager, Sherry, was a real hot ticket.  Very friendly and helpful, and she made an effort to make us feel better about being stuck until Mon. when the boat could be hauled.  Once resigned to the wait we made the best of it.  The weather was good so we took the bikes to the supermarket to restock and did a tour of the town.  Unfortunately, like many other towns, Brunswick’s downtown is struggling to re invent itself.  We didn’t get around the outlying areas, but we could see a busy port with container ships, shrimp boats, and 2 paper mills.  The marina itself was also pretty busy and was 1 mile from one end to the other.

BEING HAULED

JUST A BENT PROP