On the Hard for a week...

Well, aside from a brief trip back to Justus to do some cleaning and pick up some stuff I had left on board, I've been on the hard at my Mom's house for a week now. It's been nice, having extra space, and running water, etc... but I'll admit, I do miss being on the boat. Tomorrow, I'll be heading back up to Savannah for the night, to see The Collective Face's production of "Salome".

Finally done... pretty much.

Well, I've made it home. I pulled into Palm Coast marina in Palm Coast, FL on Wednesday, and my mom picked me up to head back to her house. I'm still planning on moving Justus a bit further down the coast, but for now, I'm happy to be done the trip.

"Kestler? Chrestman? Kastor?... Green Sailboat!"

I finally made it to Florida today. I left Savannah four days ago, and have anchored out every night since. It's been pretty lousy weather the whole time, overcast and chilly. One thing I discovered on this recent leg of the trip, is that I despise the Georgia section of the ICW. I'm sure it wouldn't be so bad in fair weather, but crossing all of the sounds in high winds and flood tides is no fun. Sapelo Sound was the first bad one, with pretty high winds, the current going against me for the majority of the time, and rough waves. I felt some relief when I reached the other side and dropped anchor for the night. The next day, I had to cross three more sounds, the two that were the worst were St. Simons and St. Andrews. St. Simons was pretty easy going for the first section, the wind and current were with me, and I was cruising along at around 7.4 knots. When I turned to starboard to complete the sound, that's where things got interesting. The waves picked up pretty fast, and the wind was relentless. Since my boat doesn't have a functioning centerboard, and only displaces 6600 lbs, it doesn't handle rough seas very well, so I was struggling to make it through the sound. I finally reached the other side, and briefly considered dropping anchor near Jekyll Island for the evening, but it was only around 2:30, and I still had three hours of daylight left. I decided to press on and tackle the next sound, St. Andrews. Again, not too bad heading out, almost no waves, and I was getting pretty good speed. Looking at the chart, I realized that the route would take me almost out to the Atlantic, and I have a shallow enough draft that I could just cut right across and shave almost an hour off my crossing. Good idea. Just as I turned to cross the sound, I heard someone come over the VHF, "Kestler? Chrestman? Kastor?... Green Sailboat!" I responded, "This is the Kestrel, send it" what came back over the radio both made me laugh and worry, "Conditions in the St. Andrews Sound are extremely rough, recommend you stay in Jekyll Island for the night" Too late. Around that time was when the conditions took a turn for the worst. The thing about sounds is, a lot of the time, the waves don't really come from the same direction, they just kind of pop up out of nowhere, like a kid thrashing around in a bathtub. I'm the rubber duckie. I fought through the rest of the sound, and made it into the river on the other side, when a Catamaran, the Cadenza came over the radio asking if I was looking for an anchorage for the night, and recommended a good spot near them. I dropped anchor for the night, drank my last beer, and went to sleep.
        This morning, I woke to high winds again, but, since I had timed my departure with the rising tide, didn't think that the Cumberland sound would be that bad. I was wrong. Before I had even made it out to the sound, still in the river inlet, I was experiencing three foot waves and high winds, tossing me all over the place. At one point, I went to gibe, and lost control of my jibsheet, the jib went flailing in the wind violently, and popped the shackle off the block. I furled the jib, and quickly went forward to repair the block, there was no way I could cross this sound without my jib. I fixed the shackle, unfurled my jib, and took off at about 6.5 knots. Again, I ignored the marked channel, and cut straight across. Until today, I had never buried my rails while just using my jib, but in 25-30kt winds with 4-5 foot waves, it happens. I came out the other side of the sound, and made my way to Amelia Island Yacht Basin. I was very excited to finally be secured to a dock again, and have some shelter from the wind. My excitement was premature, as I still had to deal with the entrance channel to the marina. To get here, I had to run perpendicular to the wind, which was still blowing at around 21kts. My little outboard couldn't fight the wind at such an angle, and I was blown out of the channel and ran aground a few meters away from some railroad tracks. After a significant amount of trouble trying to get ahold of Towboat U.S. I was hauled out of there. Now I get to sit back and relax for a day or two, until this wind dies down and the sun comes back out. I've had it with nasty weather for a while. That's why I came to Florida after all, sun and sand.

Morton Salt, eat your heart out.

Crossing St. Simons

Freebird

Finally moving on tomorrow. I've enjoyed my time in Savannah immensely, however, it's time to go. With my upgraded battery banks and increased fuel capacity, I should be able to run for about two days, sleeping a few hours at anchor, before refueling, and hopefully, I can go the remainder of the trip without needing to spend the night at a marina.

Happy Brithday, Marine Corps.

To the friends we've made, and the friends we've lost

May their memories be honored, no matter the cost.

Semper Fi.

Belay my last...

I think I'll be staying in Savannah for another week or two. I rather enjoy it here, aside from the cold.

And the beat goes on.

After about ten days in Savannah, I'm finally ready to continue on my journey. I added two new batteries to my system today, and a third six-gallon fuel tank. Hopefully, I'll be able to go for a few days at a time now without having to stop at a marina. I'm only about 130 miles from the Florida border, and I hope to cross that line by Friday evening.

    One thing this trip has done for me so far is renew my faith in the kindness of strangers. It almost seems as though every person I've met had a meeting before I started, and arranged a competition to see who can be the kindest and most helpful. That being the case, Mary at Savannah Bend Marina is shooting for the top spot. Not only has she let me use her car several times to go out in town and run errands, but the other day, she "forgot" to ring me up for some groceries in the ship's store. This morning, she stopped down by my slip with three bags full of stuff for me.

Win.

Yesterday I undertook the task of moving my sleeping quarters from the salon double berth to the v-berth. It was a long, arduous task to shuffle all of my stuff around since I had been using the v-berth as a storage area, but it was well worth the trouble. It feels like I've just upgraded from a studio apartment to a one bedroom, there's so much more usable space down below now. Added bonus; it's warmer in the v-berth, which is a big plus, since it's been dipping into the 30's at night here. I can't wait to get down to warmer climes.