Continuing South

February 24 - 27, 2014

Left Fernandina Beach and passed by St. Augustine. We see dolphin every day but we had three today that followed us for quite a while and put on a show. It never gets old to see them! While I was driving we saw a man on a sailboat waving to us and I, of course, thought I was doing something wrong. But he had run aground and wanted to see if we could tow him off. That's the first time we've done that but it worked fine.  He got loose but then got stuck on the other side and we pulled him loose again before we were all on our way.  We anchored near Daytona Beach and launched the dinghy for the first time. It was fun except for when I was driving and we were going in circles. We met someone on the dock who suggested we name the dinghy "Loonatic"!  We spent the next night at a marina in Titusville, Florida hoping to find a place to watch the NC State game but it was not on in that area but we watched the game on the iPad to the disappointing finish.  

               Saint Augustine, FL

             St. Augustine, Florida

                 Traveling companions

                      Towing

             First launch of the dinghy 

            Grady has his sea legs 

    3 electronic devices to post the blog 

             

                Nap while cruising

Finally made it to Florida!

February 22 - 24, 2014

We walked around Sunbury in the afternoon and then had surprise visitors that night. Ashley and Diane Hooks from Wilson were passing nearby on I-95 and stopped to see us.  We were only about 5 to 10 miles from the interstate and they came to the boat for a visit and then ate with us at Sunbury Crab Company that night. We traveled the next day and anchored near Jekyll Island, Florida. The next day we cruised to Fernandina Beach we had planned to continue but thunderstorms were forecast so we stopped. It's a beautiful little town with lots of shops and I put on my rain gear and went downtown.  February 24 is our 35th anniversary and Randy made reservations at a restaurant that was recommended in Fernandina Beach and we went there and had a great dinner.  We were entertained by the pelicans being fed at the seafood market.

                      Sunbury

                   Grady out for a walk

            Ashley and Diane Hooks

                   Sunset at anchor Jekyll Island

               Fernandina Beach

Beaufort, SC

February 17-21, 2014

We left Charleston on a calm, beautiful morning and cruised a few hours before anchoring for the night. Tuesday morning we headed to Beaufort, SC where we docked at Beaufort Downtown Marina and had a great lunch and walked around town all afternoon.  It's a very pretty little town and the weather was perfect and our first warm day.  Headed out the next morning and had a good day cruising before anchoring for the night.  We've been so glad to have TV reception and enjoyed watching the Olympics every night and the Today Show each morning.  The plans were for a long travel day but after Randy checked the weather reports, he found that rain and wind were in the forecast for tomorrow.  There aren't many marinas in this part of Georgia so decided to stop early at Sunbury Marina. There isn't much here but we have a nice protected dock and a VERY rustic restaurant that Randy loved!  It was featured in Coastal Living recently as one of the best Southern seafood dives. Severe thunderstorms expected today so we borrowed the courtesy car to go for groceries.  It was a very old Suburban but it got us where we needed to go.  The marina, restaurant, house and many other areas around here have a huge assortment of junk that I think the American Pickers would love.

Cooper River Bridge, Charleston, SC

The Battery, Charleston, SC

Beaufort, SC Marina

Beaufort, SC Visitors Center

Sunrise Isle of Hope, GA

Sunrise Isle of Hope, GA

Sunbury Crab Company Restaurant

Courtesy car from marina

Charleston, SC

February 14 - 17. 2014

We arrived in Charleston on February 14th and docked at Charleston Harbor Marina.  We spent the weekend "on land" with Emily and Phillip Warr.  We had a great visit with Emily, Phillip, Cate, McLaine and Connie Heavener.  The weather was still cool so we didn't get a chance to go out cruising with them on the Loon.  This was the only scheduled stop we had planned between Atlantic Beach and Palm Beach so we head out tomorrow without any set schedule.

Ice!

February 12 - 13, 2014

We woke up Wednesday morning to find the Loon coated in ice and Grady had a little problem doing his business on the slippery deck!  Again, we were warm and comfortable inside and traveled just 3 hours and stopped in Georgetown, SC at Harborwalk Marina for the night. Even though it only took a few minutes to dock the boat, I was afraid of frostbite. We were right in the downtown area and in nice weather would be wonderful.  We definitely had "cabin fever" so bundled up and headed out. We found most places to be closed because of the weather but ended up at Big Tuna Restaurant where our waitress had recently moved from Morehead and met Charlie James and found we had a lot of mutual Wilson friends. The owner invited us to bring Grady in and we had a great meal. This morning we explored downtown again and then cruised a few hours before anchoring for the night.

Abacos Here We Come!

February 9, 2014

We left Atlantic Beach at 10:53 heading south!!  Loon is loaded down with every tool, spare part, food and drink that could fit in 32 feet.  We had a delay this morning when Randy couldn't find his passport.  He has been so busy packing and organizing both the boat and house and mistakenly filed it with some papers at home.  After about an hour's search, it was found and we were on our way.  After the recent bad weather we were lucky to leave with calm wind and sunshine. Late in the day we discovered that the generator wasn't working and changed from our plan to anchor and stopped at Swan Point Marina in Sneads Ferry. Randy worked on it for a couple of hours before deciding to continue on Monday and see a mechanic in Wrightsville Beach. We stopped and had a great lunch at Bluewater Restaurant and the mechanic came to the marina and found the problem to be air in the fuel line which was quickly fixed and we were on our way.  With the generator working, we anchored     in a cove at Carolina Beach.  With hopes of making up for some of the lost time, we left at 7:30 on Tuesday with calm water but a steady temperature of 34 all day and light rain so were inside all day. After 3 days we have found a place to store everything so as not to live in clutter while on this journey. We have tv reception and have watched the Olympics each night and sadly,  I am keeping up with the weather reports and missing the snow that I love so much!  We had a long day and traveled until 5:30 and anchored near Bucksport, SC off the Waccama River.