THE Destination

Dec 14 - Jan 14, 2015  Home for the Holidays

The Marina at Ortega Landing, Jacksonville, FL

One more travel day and it was a beauty -- once again out on the Atlantic enjoying sunshine and gentle seas.  A group of dolphins welcomed us as we pulled into the St. John River inlet and moved on up the river.  

The 3 hour tour up the river took us by naval operations, huge commercial shipping docks

and right through the middle of downtown, where Christmas was in full swing!

At the end of the journey, the Marina at Ortega Landing ................

We had to break out the real Waterford crystal and a bottle of bubbly to celebrate this milestone with our great friends and traveling partners, Doug and Jan.

Fun Facts about THE ADVENTURE:

• 2519 nautical miles traveled
• 403 engine hours on the John Deere
• 168 generator hours
• 74 stops from July 16 - Dec 14 (marinas, anchorages, moorings)
• Total miles  - Lake Superior trip of 2013 + Florida trip 2014 = 4600 miles -- that equals a trip from NYC to LA and back!!

Checked off the Bucket List:

• Completing the Trent Severn Waterway and Erie Canal
• Navigating on all 5 Great Lakes and Georgian Bay
• Anchoring behind the Statue of Liberty
• Arriving in Florida on Waterford

Scenes from Ortega Landing

We'll be in this lovely place for a month --- great club house, pool, hot tub, laundry, REAL wifi, and a great staff.  West Marine, groceries, Starbucks, shopping, etc. all within walking or biking distance --- perfect!  We'll be taking a 2-week hiatus back to Michigan/Illinois to reconnect with family -- can't wait for those grand baby hugs!

We'll be back on line mid January when we move farther south to Stuart, Florida.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

On to Florida!

Dec 11 - 13 

Fernandina Harbour Marina

After a careful check of the open water forecast, we decided to leave the winding, shallow ICW and head out into the Atlantic.  Once again leaving at dawn to coordinate arriving at our destination at high tide.  

The sky was already clearing as we passed the St. Simon's Island lighthouse on the way out.

It was a beautiful 40 mile cruise to the St. Mary's River inlet.  We're officially in Florida now!

We passed several shrimpers, with nets deployed, as we made our way into the St. Mary's River inlet.  The gulls are hanging out on the lines hoping for some leftovers!

Fernandina Beach, at the north end of Amelia Island is considered the birthplace of the shrimping industry.  This boat would hope to catch 250-500 lbs. of shrimp per day.

Our original plan was to stay out on the mooring balls for 3 days, but our generator was acting up.  So with overnite temps in the upper 30's, we moved in to a dock for nights 2 & 3.  

What a fun little town!  Great shopping, bakery and farmer's market.

Once again we hit one of those "special" weekends with both an Art Walk and a lighted Santa parade.  Even the pirates got into the act! 

The Georgia ICW

Dec 2 - 3, 2014

Wahoo Island Anchorage

Leaving Isle of Hope Marina and the city of Savannah behind, we continued south on the Georgia ICW.  This portion of the waterway is famous (or infamous) for many shallow spots due to shoaling and the largest tide swings (8 ft) we've seen so far.  

That means a bit more planning so that we can get through the low spots with the deepest water possible.  This picture was taken as the tide was going out (down), about half way between high and low.  Definitely a learning experience!

We arrived at the beautiful, secluded Wahoo Island Anchorage at 4:30, just in time to enjoy an amazing sunset with Day Dreams in the foreground.

Good thing we had planned on a couple of nights here.  Wednesday the fog rolled in and Day Dreams disappeared for a while!

Fortunately, Thursday dawned fog free and beautiful and we were able to move on.

Dec 4 - 10

St. Simon's Island - Morning Star Marina at Golden Isles

Fog caught up with us about an hour into the trip, but fortunately was short lived.  We pulled into Morningstar Marina under blue skies and sunshine with enough time to bike over to St. Simons Island on a bit of a reconnaissance mission.  We stopped by the Visitor Center at Neptune park for maps and info, then back to the dock.

We had planned on spending a week here, and it proved to be a great choice.  The staff and facility are great -- muffins and a paper in the morning, nice showers and restrooms, a courtesy car, restaurant on site and easy bike ride across the bridge to St. Simons for shopping, dining and biking.  We even got in on the annual Customer Appreciation holiday party catered by the restaurant --- can you say crab nachos?!  YUM

The cool breezy weather didn't stop us from daily bike rides for sightseeing, shopping, groceries, fresh seafood, wine tasting and great dining -- even took in  Mockingjay - part 1 on a particularly gray afternoon.

Still seeing those live oaks and Spanish moss!

The branches were so low in the park, we could climb up for a picture (reliving my childhood)!

A walk on the beach.............

Another addition to the "favorites" list!

On to Georgia

Nov 28 - Dec 1   Savannah, GA

After a lovely stay in Hilton Head, it was time to move on to Savannah, GA and the Isle of Hope Marina.  Once again, we were met with a very accommodating staff and great spot.   

This was the perfect place to take advantage of a free weekend car rental I had earned in my "working" life (seems a very long time ago now!).  The marina was about 8 miles from downtown Savannah, so the car allowed us to enjoy the city at our own pace.  

It was still Thanksgiving weekend, and the beginning of their holiday festival of lights.  The kickoff event was a lighted boat parade on the Savannah river.  We had a great time bar hopping on the waterfront, enjoying the parade and fireworks and topping the evening at Lulu's --- 

the guys had dessert, the gals dessert drinks mmmmmmmm good!

In keeping with the spirit, we got lighted wreaths for our back decks and Garry got the blue lights hung in the pilot house, too.

Savannah has a very different feel from Charleston --- with it's neighborhood squares and the great waterfront district, it's a walk-friendly city.  We'll be back!

Happy Thanksgiving

Nov 25 - 27  South Carolina Yacht Club

Thanksgiving in South Carolina.............





South Carolina Yacht Club at Windmill Harbor, Hilton Head, South Carolina.  What a lovely spot to spend the holiday.


The harbor is protected from tide and current by a small lock system.  The clubhouse is in the center of a lovely community -- great for walking.

The perfect combination of fall colors, live oaks, Spanish moss and gorgeous homes.

Jan and I did a traditional dinner complete with Turkey Breast, dressing, mashed potatoes, squash, brussels sprouts and salad.  Garry and Doug were in charge of dessert ---- bakery pecan pie.  YUM

It was truly a celebration of how thankful we are to be on this journey!

The SC flag symbol, in the flesh ------ unfortunately, we couldn't enlarge the moon!






Georgia will have to be really special to top this!

More South Carolina Low Country

Nov 21 Church Creek Anchorage

After a short pretty ride down the Stono River, we anchored in Church Creek, just off the ICW.  We're getting used to the strong tidal currents and doing "360's" on the anchor.  

                  Just a quick overnight stop

on our way to Beaufort (that's bew-fort in SC, as opposed to bow-fort in NC).  We spent the next 3 nights in Port Royal Landing Marina, another great spot.  Grocery, West Marine and a fresh fish market within walking distance and a courtesy car to downtown Beaufort.





Between bouts of rain, we walked through neighborhoods of homes dating to the early 1700's, including one used as Forrest Gump's home in the movie. Garry risked life and limb to get this shot.  It's a private home surrounded by an electrified fence!





We also found The Chocolate Tree candy shop ("life is like a box of chocolates")!

We've fallen in love with the huge live oaks (so named because they remain green year round) draped with Spanish moss (neither Spanish nor moss!) that line the streets and surround these lovely homes with their signature porches.




In one of the many unique shops, we discovered a great high folding teak chair -- perfect for the helm --- so perfect the matching boats now have matching helm seats!

We'll be adding this to our list of favorite stops!

Charleston, SC - 3 perspectives

November 14 - 20

We experienced Charleston over a week's time from three very different marinas.

Marina #1 Charleston Harbor Marina

Under leaden skies, fighting high wind and current, we were safely tied up in or slips by 3:45 pm.  Of course, we're as far from the restrooms/showers as we can possibly be!  Fortunately, Saturday was sunny, though still windy and cool.

While Martins spent the day with Jan's aunt and uncle, Garry and I explored the associated resort grounds.  In warmer weather, we could have taken advantage of the pool/hot tub .............

The highlight of the day was the big event  happening in the parking lot --- at least 20 varieties of pulled pork mmmmmm good!

The marina is across the harbor from downtown Charleston, next to the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier, a destroyer and a submarine -- all retired from service and available to tour.



                                                                                             





No way I could be on the water in one of these things!!!










Sunday we moved to the Mega Dock at Charleston City Marina -- a great spot to take advantage of downtown Charleston.  

We were dwarfed by these 200+ footers!

Though the weather remained chilly, we explored the city on bikes and on foot.  Great shopping and dining abound -- including lunch at Five Loaves, a great little place run by our son-in-law Tom's great friend Stephen and his wife Ruthie.  

And for dessert, Kaminsky's -- a bar with an assortment of pastries for the guys and awesome Brandy Alexander milkshakes for Jan and me --OMG delightful!

Stop #3  St. John's Yacht Harbor




A short 3 mile jaunt from the downtown marina, we found another gem.  St John's Yacht Harbor, just off the ICW -- great staff, top notch restrooms, showers and laundry and a courtesy car.




It's also just a few miles from great friends, Skip and Linda Perkins condo on Johns Island.  They met us for awesome Italian dinner at the Wild Olive where we got all caught up.  The following day they toured us around Kiawah Island, including the HGTV Dream Home and the famous Ocean Course.

We enjoyed refreshments in the club house overlooking the course/ocean and ended the evening back at Bohicket Marina at Fisher's bar.  It was so good to see them!

Great Friends!  The 2 couples who have been part of our boating experience from the time we arrived in Michigan!