It’s cold and rainy here in Palmetto Bluff today, and we’re indoors in front of the fire. it’s 55 degrees here today – roughly 10 degrees colder than in Pennsylvania. Sheesh.

But it gives me plenty of time to write, hence the multiple updates!

Here’s a shot of Freedom tied up at Wilson’s Landing, the dock at Palmetto Bluff. Isn’t the Low Country setting just gorgeous? This is on the May River, just across Calibogue Sound from Hilton Head Island.

This is the last day of our layover in Palmetto Bluffs, and I’ve had an opportunity to spend a lot of time with Guinness:

• He walks with me
• He sleeps with me
• He rides in the golf cart
• He loves to run BESIDE the golf cart
• He runs beside my bicycle, both on and off the leash

This stop has given me time to acknowledge how much I owe him:

• My dog park friends in Key West were very kind to me – I wouldn’t have met them without Guinness.
• I also love the friends I made in the marina; again, it was Guinness who facilitated our meeting.
• All the other folks I met in Key West and Florida: Guinness.

He makes friends wherever he goes.

He never fails to lead me down a side street that I might have missed.

And he does it all with such exuberance: he literally jumps for joy at the prospect of a walk.

In archaic English, he is a boon companion.

This is our third of four days at Palmetto Bluff with Jeff and Kathy. The storm (and tornados) that were expected the day I arrived never materialized. The front passed through, but behind the front, the temperatures have dropped.

It’s in the low 50’s this morning, and it reminds me of mornings in Jackson Hole. The sun is bright, but we are layered up.

What we HAVE HAD is a pollen storm. There is a TON of it down here. Everyone drives a greenish-yellow car. I now have a greenish-yellow boat.

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Last night we made some great memories, gathered around the fireplace out on the dock. Magical.

Go back to my November posts to see photos of the dock and the fireplace.

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Meanwhile, we got a very pleasant surprise: Connie (my friend from Aspen/Captiva) is flying into Charleston to spend three days with me and Guinness. I think it will be very nice to have someone to spend a few days with. We’ve been pretty much alone this entire trip.

We made it into Palmetto Bluff at noon – just ahead of a major storm (with tornado warnings)!

We finished tying up just as the rain started to patter down.

The weather the next few days is supposed to be sketchy, so it is great holing up with Kathy and Jeff. Guinness and Cooper are racing around the house, getting re-acquainted. All is well.

Now we are truly out of Georgia: snug in South Carolina.

We left St. Simon’s Island at 7:15 on Tuesday, before daybreak under heavy cloud cover. We were thinking of waiting longer order to have daylight, but the cloud cover was pretty solid, so we left in darkness, with our running lights on, following the chart plotter. No problem.

I had been reluctant to run at night, because of an earlier experience: about 20 years ago, I moved my sailboat down from Long Island Sound to the Barnegat Bay, and it required sailing at night. This was before the advent of Global Positioning Satellites. There were no chart plotters; we used LORAN, which was very primitive compared to today’s equipment. I recalled how difficult it was to identify which navigational aid you were looking at; even when they are lighted, it’s difficult to tell one lighted buoy from another at night, particularly in a congested area like the western end of Long Island Sound. We completed that earlier trip safely, but it made me skittish about traveling at night.

The new chart plotters totally change the paradigm. Absolutely no reason to actually see land. Just follow the course on the screen – like a video game! Of course, you have to remain alert for other boats, but there were none yesterday.

The sun broke through by 7:45. From then on it was even easier.

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Surprisingly, Georgia has less than 100 miles of coastline. The ICW, however, winds its way through Georgia, sometimes doubling back on itself, so it takes a little longer than taking the outside route. But we made great time; we saw only ONE OTHER boat the whole way, and we arrived in Skidaway Island, just below Savannah, by 1PM.

It’s early spring here, and the redbuds and azaleas are starting to pop!

I’m visiting my friends Jim and Melissa, whom I have known since the 70’s. They built their first home at The Landings on Skidaway Island in the mid-80’s, and they are now in a beautiful home on the marsh. I love marsh views, and theirs faces west.

This couple has traveled even more than Cathy and I did: more than 60 countries. And tons of major golf tournaments, including the Masters. So happy for them.

We had lunch at the sports complex and dinner at one of the clubhouses (there are 6 golf courses). A very nice place to be.

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Tomorrow we leave for Palmetto Bluff – just 40 miles away. Right near Hilton Head. We’l spend 4-5 days with my brother-in-law Jeff and his wife Kathy.

Safe and sound in St Simon’s Georgia. We left Saint Augustine at 7 o’clock-before the sun was up. What is the point of daylight savings time?
We are in the ocean from Saint Johns to Saint Simon. Sunny skies in flat seas until we got to the Saint Simon inlet. They got a little sloppy, but we are safe and sound. I’ll report more this evening.

We enjoyed Florida, but it’s good to leave it behind. We are almost halfway home!

Here’s a sight you don’t see everyday:

This is a massive salvage operation underway at the head of the St. Simon’s Inlet. It’s the wreck of the Golden Ray, a 656-foot car carrier that capsized in the channel while carrying 4,200 brand-new vehicles. YIKES! At least we never capsized!

It’s difficult to get a sense of the scale of this contraption, but the white boat in the foreground is larger than my boat. The huge gantry looks like the one in the Jodie Foster movie Contact.

It’s nice to be out of Florida…Georgia looks different: we’re in the Low Country now!

On Saturday night in St. Augustine, we had drinks and dinner with our Key West boating friends Jane and Steve. So much fun.

Then on Sunday morning, Allison drove down from Ponte Vedra so that we could have breakfast together. We worked together about 12 years ago, and it was great to see her again! When I met her she was single; she’s married now with a daughter Maggie.

Today, Monday the 15th, we left St. Augustine at 7AM – before sunup. (Can someone please explain to me why we still bother with Daylight Saving Time?)

The St. Augustine Inlet is tricky, so we ran north in the ICW for two hours, then went outside at St. John’s Inlet and ran another 4 hours in the ocean to the St Simon’s Inlet in Georgia. Sunny skies and flat seas. We were tied up by 1PM. 100 miles in 5 hours. The boat ran perfectly. Thank you, Lord.

We enjoyed our time in Florida and the Keys, but I’m glad to leave it behind.

Another beautiful cruising day – three in a row. The only problem all day was other boats – it’s Saturday, and between the small fishing boats, the kayakers, and the hot-doggers, you have to stay alert.

We are now in a large marina / condo development called Camachee Cove, waiting to meet our friends Steve and Jane for dinner. It’s surprisingly warm – 78 degrees, and sunny.

I had a chance to clean the boat (and myself). We both look much better.

We’ll stay another day to explore.

Talk to y’all tomorrow!

After four days in Purgatory (Sebastian), we’ve now had two days of Heaven. Sunny skies, fair winds, calm seas, and cute little towns to visit. It’s such a pleasure to travel in conditions like this!

We left Cocoa Village at 8 this morning, and we were tied up in New Smyrna Beach in time for lunch.

Both stops featured cute little towns with lots of restaurants, art galleries, and home decor stores.

In retrospect, it’s a shame that Key West is dominated by T-Shirt shops. There are a couple of galleries and decor stores, but they are simply swallowed up in the junk.

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It’s interesting that my fraternity brother Jim Quinn used to work for Cummins Diesel, and he marketed the engine that powers Freedom. It is rock-solid. Other parts may fail, but the Cummins just keeps chugging along.

Also interesting that my friend from third grade – Ted Sikorsky – worked for Bradford-White, the folks who built my water heater (at home and on Freedom.) Another piece of equipment I absolutely count on.

Good work, guys!

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Tomorrow, we’re heading for St. Augustine for two days. I hope to connect with an old business associate of mine: Allison.

Also, surprisingly, my Key West buddies Steve and Jane (the ones who live in Beach Haven) are also going to be in St. Augustine – for 10 days. I expect to get together with them, as well!

After St. Augustine, we are off to Brunswick, GA (Zzzzzzzz) and then Skidaway Island, just below Savannah.

I’m expecting another great travel day tomorrow.

While I enjoy pulling into a marina each afternoon, it doesn’t compare to the feeling I get setting out each day.

I am totally focused on the task ahead – the journey.  Tides, currents, winds and waves.  RPM’s; Speed Over Ground (SOG); engine temperature; gear pressure; and the channel markers, of course.

Every new day brings excitement – with a measure of anxiety, of course. Anything can go wrong.

A journey like mine may seem romantic, but what this journal reveals is that it exposes one to frustrations, and even danger.

Time for truth: when the transmission cooler failed four days ago, it was very dicey.  It was a very blustery day, with 3’ waves and wind gusts to 35 mph: a legitimate gale.  

We’ve been out in conditions like that before.  We weren’t in the ocean; we were in the ICW.  We weren’t trying to go far that day, and we certainly weren’t trying to go fast.  But when the transmission failed, I had no control of the boat.  I tried to make it into the closest marina, but I couldn’t. 

I dropped the anchor, but in 35 knots, it wouldn’t hold. Despite letting out all the anchor rode, we were drifting south, in very shallow water, at risk of running aground, or hitting several docks – outcomes that would have seriously damaged the boat.  

I called TowBoatsUS, of course, but they were an hour away, on another job.  We drifted slowly, the anchor slowing the speed of our drift, somehow missing every pole while bumping off the bottom. When I couldn’t wait any longer, I dumped my last quart of ATF into the transmission and managed to claw my way to deeper (safer) water.  

Then, miraculously, right on time, TowBoatsUS appeared and got me to safety.  Two boats.  I don’t want to exaggerate, but in 35 knot winds, what they did was truly heroic: first, they got a bridle on my bow and towed me out of danger; then they lashed the second boat to my port side and – like a tugboat – muscled me into the marina.  I owe them a lot.

I showed good presence of mind by deploying the anchor: it bought me time.  And my last-minute decision to retrieve the anchor and try to motor out to deeper water turned out to be a good one.

But it could have been much worse.  Much worse.  Not loss of life, certainly.  But serious.

But once again, I have been soooo fortunate,. The TowBoat guys knew I’d need repairs and took me to the right marina. We have a new transmission cooler installed, the seawater is purged from the system, and we’re almost ready to go. (After I pay the tab.)

Interestingly, my Key West friend David Hall just called and said the same thing happened to him: corrosion in the transmission cooler emptied all the ATF overboard.

He also insisted that I NOT go to Titusville, but rather stop in Cocoa Village, which has a lot more charm, including (supposedly) the world’s most amazing hardware store. I’d like to get closer to St. Augustine, but I give up on trying to hold to any schedule!

Anyway, all is well.  Every challenge overcome builds confidence and character.

Today’s a new day.