April 14, 2014  Day 155  South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

We have less than three weeks remaining here at Ortega Landing and we are staying busy getting Carried Away ready for the trip. Bill is chipping away at his project list.  He removed all the screens in the salon windows and washed them. He pulled the anchor chain out of the hold, reversed it, and painted new stripes to mark the depths.  That took a few days due to multiple coats of paint. He also refinished some wood trim on the side of the boat – another multiple day project.  We also had a diver check the bottom of the boat, and as expected, since we have been stationary so long, we have barnacles. The diver will return before we leave and remove the barnacles!

In the meantime we have enjoyed being with Looper friends, Rick and Margi on Journey and Bob and Janet on Harmony.  We have shared many meals – potlucks, cookouts, restaurants, etc.  We went to the beach one afternoon and thoroughly relaxed under the sun!  We have been to the Riverside Arts Market twice and hope to go back this weekend. It is a market of arts, music, and food!  The St. Johns River provides a perfect backdrop for it.  We attended the Southeast US Boat Show in Jacksonville this weekend.  We have also been on many walks, shopping and browsing through shops, including an enormous used book store that is nearby.  Another great outing was a trip to Gold Loopers, David and Barbara Doyle's home on the St. John's River just north of Jacksonille.

Joyce & Margi at the beach

One tradition here at Ortega landing (as well as other marinas) is the annual “Burn Your Socks” party to officially welcome in spring and warm weather.  After enjoying our catered meal of ribs and chicken, we all contributed our socks to the bonfire.



Janet, Bill, & Bob at the "Burn Your Socks" party

Joyce has one more follow-up with her Doctor and hopes to get the official release on April 24 that will allow us to leave within a few days after that.  We still have much to do but we are up to the challenge!

 



March 27, 2014  Day 133  South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

We continue to spend our winter here at Ortega Landing until May 1st.  We were happy to have Bill’s brother Chuck and sister-in-law, Becky visit us in late February.  Their timing was perfect.  They joined us for the Mardi Gras party the marina hosted and brought us our masks and beads to wear! We had a fun evening. 



Decked out for Mardi Gras!

We were also happy to see Tom and Meliesa (on Journey Monk) when they arrived on their way north. More Loopers are arriving every week at Ortega Landing. Bob and Janet (Harmony) and Rick and Margi (Journey Power Cat) are here for a few weeks and we have enjoyed seeing them and catching up on old times!  We boated with these three couples last summer. 

Joyce had surgery at the Mayo Clinic on March 12 and has recovered nicely. Her only limitations are not to lift anything over five pounds. That has not been a problem!

Bill continues to work on his new hobby of bird carving and is doing well at it!  We also spend time reading, walking and tackling ongoing boat projects.   

Bill's curlew

We do have good news to share!  Our granddaughter, Abigail Joy Craig, was born February 20. We are so eager to hold Abby when we drive to Colorado to visit in June!

We will to update the blog again in April and once we are back on the water in May, we will return to daily updates.

February 18, 2014  Day 96  South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

The best laid plans… as Dr. Seuss says (and we seem to be needing this quote again…)

“I’m sorry to say so but sadly it’s true that bang ups and hang ups can happen to you.”

We are more than overdue in updating the blog but with a good excuse.  Four days after our last post in January, Bill had a heart attack.  An emergency heart cath revealed two blocked arteries and Bill is now the owner of two stents.  He received excellent care at nearby St. Vincent’s Hospital and he is doing very well.  This was the first 911 call we have ever made and the response was immediate. We were grateful to be onboard the boat while we were docked, and not anchored out somewhere!

Then, in early February we drove to Virginia to attend the memorial service of our dear sister-in-law, Gennie Craig, who lost a courageous battle with cancer.  We miss her terribly!  We were in Virginia for almost two weeks, and Bill arranged appointments with our family doctor and also a cardiologist for follow-up care.  He had medications adjusted and is feeling great! We stayed with friends in Newport News an in Williamsburg while we were there and are so grateful for their hospitality.

It looks like we will remain at Ortega Landing until May.  Joyce’s surgery has been delayed until mid-March. In the meantime we have projects to keep us busy!  We also look forward to seeing Looper friends arrive on their boats as they began their journey north this spring!  We are enjoying the 70 degrees temperatures this week, knowing all too well what our families in the north and midwest are experiencing.

January 13, 2014  Day 60  South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

The best laid plans… as Dr. Seuss says (and we have used this quote previously…)

“I’m sorry to say so but sadly it’s true that bang ups and hang ups can happen to you.”

We are just now updating our blog after a month’s delay.  We had a fabulous trip over the holidays visiting our family. It would only have been better if our son-in-law were with us and not overseas. But even then we did face time with him Christmas morning so he could watch the children open their gifts.  We spent a whole week in Texas with our daughter and four grandchildren, ages, 5, 7, 9, and 11! We welcomed in the New Year with Bill’s brother and family in Baton Rouge and had a wonderful time with them, including a visit to a WWII Museum and to a plantation.

We returned to Jacksonville on January 2 as planned and then started thinking about our journey south for the winter, including destinations along the way, and projects to do in the meantime.

And now it is January 13 and although our departure date was set for tomorrow, we will not be going any farther south this year.  We will stay here until sometime in April as Joyce will have surgery (probably in February). The recovery comes with a “no lifting more than 5 pounds” for six weeks, so we have decided that line and fender handling would not be a good thing.  We feel good about the decision to have the surgery here at the Mayo Clinic rather than be somewhere where options are not as good. It is also too soon to take Carried Away back to Virginia. 

In the meantime we are meeting lots of boaters who are also staying here for the winter. The marina has a beautiful clubhouse, hosts many activities, and has free laundry, a pool, etc.  We are happy here but will be even happier when warmer weather becomes constant.  We have seen quite a range of temperatures!

We will update the blog from time to time!  We are having overnight guests this week. (Gold Loopers Ricki and Carl (Quest) are arriving by car on Thursday, and we look forward to their visit!

December 17, 2013  Day 33  South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

Today was spent cleaning the exterior of the boat, vacuuming, doing laundry, and packing for our trip to Louisiana and Texas.  We will leave in the morning and drive to Baton Rouge and spend a few days visiting family (Bill’s brother and our sister-in-law and their children and grandchildren!) and then drive to Texas to spend Christmas with our daughter and our four grandchildren.  We will stay a week and enjoy being with them!  Then back to Baton Rouge to spend a few more days including New Years!

We will return to Jacksonville and to Carried Away on January 2. We will not update the blog during our absence, but we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

December 16, 2013  Day 32  South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

Just a quick note tonight.  We did get some things accomplished today. Joyce made a few calls this morning to get a rental car.  She had to deal with sticker shock as rates seem to have escalated during the holidays!  We will pick up the car tomorrow for our trip to Louisiana and Texas.

We walked to the shopping area after lunch and got all our tasks done:  we both got overdue haircuts; we mailed Christmas packages at the UPS Store; and we bought the baby gift for our new grandniece.  (Glad we can deliver it in person in a few days!)

We had dinner on board and had a quiet evening.  Tomorrow we will finish the cleaning and pack for our trip.

 

December 15, 2013  Day 31 South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

Today was a “stay on the boat” type of day. The rain that was forecast arrived last night and we only had a few light showers this morning.  However, we still only managed to do a few “light” things.

Joyce finished wrapping the last two gifts, addressed the Christmas cards, did several loads of laundry, cooked dinner, read, and continued the “lists” required to be ready for our trip on Wednesday.  Bill researched and studied wifi boosters and routers much of the day.

We have much to do tomorrow including cleaning the exterior of the boat, running errands, get haircuts, etc.

December 14, 2013  Day 30 South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

At last, we are here for a month! We left the dock at Jacksonville Landing before lunch and made the six mile trip here in less than an hour.  It is so good to be here at the Marina at Ortega Landing. It is a beautiful marina with great facilities.  After we got checked in Joyce walked to Publix for a few groceries.  It is in a large shopping center that we will have to go back to on Monday and check some of the other stores!  It is so good to have this within walking distance.

We attended the marina’s Christmas party tonight which included a catered dinner and live entertainment.  We did not expect to know anyone when we arrived but we recognized Gold Loopers, Jack, Denise, and their 5 year old daughter Beatrice.  They are from Brazil and we first met them at Joe Wheeler last fall.  We enjoyed talking with them again!

We have rain forecast tomorrow so we will get some indoor chores done.  We plan to rent a car and leave Wednesday and drive to Louisiana and Texas to visit family for Christmas. We will be back on Carried Away the first week of January. 

December 13, 2013   Day 29  South for the winter

 

Jacksonville Landing

Jacksonville, FL

We got an early start and left St. Mary’s at 7:25 to maximize the tide we would encounter in shallow areas.  We had a good travel day but were surprised to see so few other boaters out today.  It was a beautiful Friday! 

We passed Fernandina Beach at 8:30 but could not stop. We were there last year and found it to be a wonderful town and will have to stop again next spring! 

The approach to Jacksonville on the St. John’s River is lined with shipyards and loading docks.  We watched container ships being loaded with the help of large cranes. We arrived in Jacksonville Landing at 2:15 and got ourselves tied up to the free wall. There is no one here to help but we managed fine by ourselves.

We walked around the Landing which has an outdoor amphitheater/ courtyard and many restaurants and shops. We decided to have pizza and sat outside enjoying the warm weather and a terrific Chicago style pizza.  We dropped off the leftovers on the boat and went back to the amphitheater to look at the Christmas tree filled with over 78,000 LED lights that are coordinated with music.  It is quite a sight!  Then we realized that live performances were scheduled! So for three hours we watched school children and one church group perform Christmas songs and dance!  It was quite a treat and we were glad we stayed!  

The beautiful tree at Jacksonville Landing

We will leave the Landing tomorrow morning and go to the Marina at Ortega Landing. It is on the St. John’s River about 6 miles from here. Carried Away will be there a month.  

December 12, 2013  Day 28 South for the Winter

Lang’s Marina
St. Mary’s, Georgia

We decided to spend another day here, and once a large boat left, we moved up to its spot on the face dock to get a 50 amp power connection.  We took a very nice walk around St. Mary’s after lunch and enjoyed the waterfront park, several small shops, and looking at many historical homes and buildings.  There are some very nice bed and breakfasts and inns here.  We even stopped for ice cream!

CuteB & B complete with pirate!

Lighted palm trees line
the main street in St. Mary's

Joyce got some laundry done and Bill worked on his bird carving this afternoon.  We went back out for dinner at a small café.  When we returned, we called our grandson, David, to wish him a Happy 8^th birthday!  We will see him in less than two weeks for Christmas!

We will leave tomorrow and go to Florida. We will either go to an anchorage or go to Jacksonville. 

December 11, 2013  Day 27 South for the Winter

Lang’s Marina
St. Mary’s, Georgia

An early phone call to a marina in St. Mary’s to check fuel price and available space resulted in the decision to go there.  We left our anchorage near St. Simon’s at 8:15. By the time we arrived at Jekyll Island, the tide was out and we were in some skinny water. 

We picked up waves that were about two feet in St. Andrews Sound. This is also home to the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base, home to six ballistic missile subs.  Their patrol boat kept an eye on all of us as we carefully kept a proper distance.  We also passed Cumberland Island where we anchored last year and toured the island.

We entered the winding St. Mary’s River and were soon at Lang’s Marina.  We went immediately to the fuel dock for fuel and a pump out. We then went to our assigned position on the face dock.  This is a fairly basic marina – no wifi, and the 50 amp breaker did not work so we had to contend with 30 amps. Joyce could not cook and do laundry at the same time!  The dock master is very friendly and helpful however.  The sailboat in front of us is also from Williamsburg – such a small world!

We may stay here another day and get some chores done or tour this little town.  If not we will enter the state of Florida!  We will check out all options in the morning!

December 10, 2013  Day 26 South for the Winter

At anchor
St. Simons, Georgia

No fog this morning! We departed our anchorage at 0800 under a cloudy sky and headed south. Our cloudy day became a rainy day and then a sunny day and then the cycle repeated itself.

The ICW is frequently narrow in this area and continues to be surrounded by marshland.  It also winds around a great deal which required monitoring the auto pilot constantly.  We provided a good air draft for seagulls that followed us for quite a while.  We also spotted several dolphins that played near the boat.

We arrived at our anchorage just north of the bridge at St. Simons at 3:30. We enjoyed appetizers and then had dinner. We watched television and read for the remainder of the evening. 

We are not sure where we are going tomorrow – perhaps Jekyll Island or Cumberland Island.  We will make that decision in the morning.

December 9, 2013  Day 25     South for the Winter

At anchor
Kilkenny Creek, Georgia

A fairly short post this evening… Our plans to leave our anchorage this morning and head to St. Simons were altered when we awoke to fog!  And at 10:30 when it was still foggy we decided to stay here another day.  The fog eventually lifted but we could only have gone half the distance, so it made sense to stay. We relaxed and read, wrapped more Christmas gifts, and did a few chores.  The sun came out and we opened the windows and enjoyed a warm afternoon! 

We are surrounded by marshland here and it is very peaceful.  We had dinner on board and spent the evening reading.  We hope to leave in the morning!

December 8, 2013  Day 24     South for the Winter

At anchor
Kilkenny Creek, Georgia

We reluctantly said goodbye to Kathy and Paul this morning as they drove home. We had a great visit with them and hope to see them again in February.  We cast off our lines shortly after they left. 

We had about 56 miles to travel today to reach our chosen anchorage in Kilkenny Creek.  We traveled under an overcast sky all day but at least the seas were calm.  There was very little boat traffic out today as this is obviously off season.  We timed the trouble spots such as Hells Gate, perfectly at high tide and had plenty of water under us.  We did see several dolphins playing today. And we also spotted a bald eagle.

We arrived at our peaceful anchorage around 3:30 and have it to ourselves.  We had dinner on board, did lots of reading, and watched some television.  Tomorrow’s destination is St. Simons, Georgia, but we will anchor there also. Hopefully it will be warmer!

December 6-7, 2013  Days 22-23    South for the Winter

Shelter Cove Marina
Hilton Head, South Carolina

We have been so busy we have not had time to write the blog!  We have been going non-stop visiting with family and friends.  On Friday we went back to Harbor Town for lunch with Kathy and Paul and also walked around some of the shops.  They convinced us to stay at the condo that evening so we could have more time to visit, so we agreed! We went back to the boat and packed a bag and then spent a fun evening with them. Rick also joined us for much of the evening.  Joyce had made a crab dip earlier in the day, so we enjoyed that with wine. Then we ordered a pizza and had it delivered. Great choice!  We finished our meal with pumpkin pie that Joyce also made that morning.

We returned to the boat on Saturday and moved Kathy and Paul’s things on the boat since they had to sign out of the condo that morning. We said goodbye to Rick and Marie as they planned to drive home that day.  At noon, we met Paul’s cousin Dottie and her husband Joe for lunch at Bistro 843. What a great restaurant!  After lunch everyone came back to our boat for an extended visit.  Then we all went to Dottie and Joe’s lovely home nearby at Shelter Cove. 

We finally returned to our boat and enjoyed dinner on board, followed by watching the Auburn–Missouri football game!  What a great game!  We also managed to open Christmas presents with Kathy and Paul during half time!  We stayed up and watched the Ohio State-Michigan State game but were so disappointed with that outcome!

We enjoyed watching this paddleboarder
and her dog in our marina!

Kathy and Paul will drive back to Atlanta tomorrow and we will depart for an anchorage about 56 miles south. We had a fabulous time here but we need to keep moving!

December 5, 2013  Day 21   South for the Winter

Shelter Cove Marina
Hilton Head, South Carolina

This was another great day in Hilton Head.  Joyce’s sister and brother-in-law, Kathy and Paul arrived at 12:30 and after getting them settled in the condo, we went out to lunch with them and Rick and Marie.

We came back to the boat for more visiting and then browsed through some of the shops in Shelter Cove.  Back out again to eat!  We had appetizers at Rick and Marie’s condo and then we all went to Okko’s for dinner. It is a wonderful, upscale Asian bistro. 

Bill, Joyce,Kathy, Paul enjoying the view at Sea Pines

It is so good to be with family and friends during our stay here. We never tire of talking and sharing memories.

 

December 4, 2013  Day 20   South for the Winter

Shelter Cove Marina
Hilton Head, South Carolina

We had a fun time taking Rick and Marie out for a boat ride today.  The weather was perfect with a bright blue sky and 70 degrees!  We left around 9:20 and headed back down Broad Creek and into the Calabogue Sound.  We dropped anchor at 11:00 at Buck Creek and had lunch there.  We saw several dolphins today and they were camera shy as always.  

Esmeralda!

As we left the anchorage we spotted Richard and Shannon on Esmeralda going by.  We bumped up our speed and caught up with them and had a side by side visit.  We traveled with them in Canada but had not seen since we were in Maine.  It was great to see them again!  We always enjoy seeing boating friends and love the surprise encounters!  

Bill and Rick at the helm



Bill entertained us at lunchtime

Marie

We returned to our marina at Shelter Cove at 1:30 and said goodbye to Rick and Marie.  We will see them tomorrow.  We had dinner onboard and had a quiet evening.  Joyce’s sister and brother-in-law, Kathy & Paul will arrive tomorrow and we look forward to their visit!

December 3, 2013  Day 19   South for the Winter

Shelter Cove Marina
Hilton Head, South Carolina

Just a very short post tonight. This was another day of chores and running errands.  We did have a nice visit with Rick this afternoon which provided a good break in our schedule.

We had dinner on board and spent a quiet evening reading.

Tomorrow morning we will take Rick and Marie out for a boat ride on Carried Away! 

December 2, 2013  Day 18   South for the Winter

Shelter Cove Marina
Hilton Head, South Carolina

We had a fun day today and spent time walking on the beach with Rick and Marie. Their condo has a beautiful view overlooking the ocean.  This was a great starting point!  Joyce and Marie added to her shell collection and Bill and Rick enjoyed their leisurely pace walking Rick’s dog, Heidi, along the shore.  

View from condo - doesn't get any better than this!

From there we went to the Crazy Crab Restaurant at Harbor Town and had a very nice lunch. We walked around the harbor and watched some of the dredging to increase the water depth. The dredging is taking place during most of this month. We would have docked our boat here this time if the marina had been open!  The boats that are here cannot get out yet so we assume they are not transients!

Joyce, Bill, Rick, Marie and Heidi

We returned to our boat in late afternoon and after a pasta dinner on board, spent the rest of the evening reading and watching some television.  

December 1, 2013  Day 17   South for the Winter

Shelter Cove Marina

Hilton Head, South Carolina

Today was a mixture of doing chores and visiting friends.  Joyce dusted and vacuumed, and Bill worked on plumbing.  Our friends, Rick and Marie, who are vacationing here, came over for a visit this morning.  Then Rick took us to run a few errands – primarily hardware stores. (They have plumbing supplies!)

We went out to dinner this evening with Rick and Marie and their family and had great seafood and enjoyed being with them.  We will meet them in the morning for a walk on the beach!