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!