Touring

Friday December 17th - Happy Birthday Geoff - started with the 2 plus mile walk to Target and Winn Dixie and West Marine. Then the taxi ride back to the marina, loading up the Gosling and reprovising the boat. Then we took the Red Train tour of the city. It was a beautiful day. We had dinner out in St. Augustine at Harry's.


Saturday we walked to Anesthasia Island and St. Augustine Lighthouse - more than a couple of miles. The lighthouse and keeper's house is next to St. Augustine's Recreation Area. There was a skateboard competition going on in the park with some very talented kids. We toured the lighthouse museum and keeper's house and then climbed the 163 foot lighthouse. Obviously, the view was fabulous. We walked (with some stumbling) back to the city, bought a Christmas flag for Snow Goose, and called it quits for the day.

Sunday, December 19th. A cold front came through last night and it is cold and cloudy, foggy today. We are hanging here on the boat this morning, hoping for some improvement. We have been invited to the Coles' for dinner this evening. I hope there is improvement for that dinghy ride to shore.

Tuesday, December 21st.  Dinner with Mike and Oula was very nice - food from the oven and ice cream! 
Monday we toured Flagner College and the San Sebastian Winery.  A fun day!  We decided to hang here in St. Augustine for Christmas.  The weather south is no better than right here and there is so much to do right here.
 
Snow Goose is flying her Christmas pennant - let it snow!
 

Ongoing St. Augustine Visit

Friday, December 10th


Wednesday we took the Snow Goose to Comachee Boat Yard here in St. Augustine and had it hauled. We had a new dripless bearing put in and the stern plug sealed. While we were there, First Mate repair looked at our malfunctioning wind gauge. They ordered some parts, and we left the boat yard. On our way back to the mooring we lost our whole navigation system.

Thursday we did laundry and then visited a French cafe for lunch. The food is wonderful! After lunch we sought out a marine supply & salvage store. We came away with a pocket full and some line. We'll go back I'm sure. St. Augustine is now feeling very festive. They have used 2.5 million lights to adorn the downtown. It truly is breathtaking.

Friday we returned to the boat yard to have them install the navigation parts. We left with everything working, however by the time we reached our mooring ball we had lost our wind instruments again. I think a mast climb is next, but the weather has to cooperate. We have been having North winds 15-20 plus every day; cold and today with rain.. It was tricky going to the boat yard this morning.

We have the weekend to look forward to, and we intend to enjoy the Christmas festivities here. Monday we'll think about the boat problems again.

Tuesday, December 14th

The boat parade was Saturday. We took Gosling in and watched from Ft. George. We met our friends the Coles on the dock. They have Kismet on a mooring North of the Bridge of Lions here. We cruised with them last year for awhile.

Sunday we toured the Lightner Museum and had lunch out in our favorite French cafe. By the time we were ready to go back to the boat, the rain had stopped and the sun dried the seats on Gosling. It is the little things!

We had hoped to have a mastclimber go up Monday to retrieve our wind instrument, but the wind was howling 20 to 35 knots. Same story today. The weather has not improved and will be very cold one more day. We have been busy keeping our heat source stock of propane tanks. They are a hot item around here.

Today we are going to walk to West Marine to pick up the propane tanks they set aside for us. That walk takes us right by the marine supply store Bill has discovered, so I am sure we will stop by there too. We are working on updating our lines, and they have a lot of it very reasonable.

Thursday, December 16th

We made the trip into Comachee marina again yesterday.  First Mate went up the mast and cleaned up some connections in the wind instrument.  The day was beautiful on the water.

This morning Bill is repairing what we hope is our last needed fix for awhile - the waste pump.  The rubber in the pump cracked over the summer in the heat - like everything else onboard.  The weather has definitely improved, sunny and 68 degrees.  It was warmer last night too:  one down comforter and three fleece blankets night and no ice on the hatches!

Boat Parade 2010 St Augustine

Hanging out in St. Augustine

Sunday, December 5th. We arrived in St. Augustine on a wing and a prayer on Thursday evening and called the mechanic we were familiar with from last year. They showed up Friday morning and within a short time identified our fuel problem. The fuel line had been hooked up backwards, confirming Bill's thoughts. The discharge side of the pump was hooked up to the intake in the fuel tank. The suction side was hooked up to the discharge side. So therefore, it only had three or four gallons to pick up - enough to run us 3 or 4 hours and then the engine would quit. We left the marina in St. Augustine yesterday and did a sea trial. The engine ran so well!!! I think we are going to love it. There were also some other adjustments and part replacements made, so we should be all set now. We have picked up a mooring in St. Augustine and intend to stay here for a few days of rest and relaxation. Our nerves are shot!

Yesterday they had a Christmas parade in the morning. In the afternoon we attended a reenactment. I can hear the fife and drums onshore now and a canon was just shot. They do have fun! St. Augustine at Christmas time is beautiful. We did some shopping in the old town section yesterday afternoon.

Yes, it was cold coming into St. Augustine. It is still not warm, but it is sunny. The tall ship Lynx is docked here doing some training. It is registered in Portsmouth NH.
Bill is busy now doing some electrical work - putting up some more of those wonderful LED lights. There is always something going on - never boredom.

Tuesday, December 8th.  Still very COLD but at least it is sunny with no ice or snow.  Still hanging on a mooring and enjoying St. Augustine.

Limping into Florida

Tuesday, November 30th. Yesterday the mechanic came aboard in the morning at Jekyll Harbor Marina and repaired the electrical problem with the fuel pump. We left the dock after showers and lunch and motored around the waterway. There was still some air in the fuel line and we needed to bleed it out. We dropped anchor outside the marina and took the Gosling into Jekyll Island and walked around. I'm still looking for an allegator, but nothing yet.

This morning we left Jekyll Island, running just fine. We pulled over for lunch off Cumberland River. The wind really picked up and we decided to stay. Bill replaced the bilge pump, and I got out the chrome polish. The wind isn't letting up, so we have decided to sit tight. I was hoping for Florida today, but guess not yet.

Wind is calmer this morning so we started out again, continuing to be hampered by fuel problems.  We found a little river off the ICW to anchor.  It is getting colder, but the wind is still calm.

Dec 3, we are in Florida!!  Boy, is it COLD!  We continued to have fuel problems and limped our way into St. Augustine.  Again today a mechanic will be aboard.  I am doing laundry and will get my hair done later.  Then we will provision.  We walked around St. Augustine last night.  The Christmas lights are up again and it is so pretty.  We'll stay another night at least.  Happy Birthday Greg!!

Sailing in Jekyll Point/Sound

Thanksgiving & beyond

This is Black Friday. We had a very nice Thanksgiving Dinner aboard the Sean Patrick here in Two Way Boat Yard. We had planned to sail this afternoon with the mean high tide, however squall clouds and the ensuing rain prevented that thought. We did return the rental car, leave or not. It was costing us a small fortune. Now we walk. Tomorrow, Saturday, is supposed to be a cooler but nice day. We'll try again. Our VHF radio only needed a replacement cable at the base of the mast, and is now working better than ever. The scratch created by the improper transmission lever at the pedestal has now been repaired, and we are just ready to get out of here. I still haven't seen that allegator, but we did see a wild boar running frantically across the road yesterday. Can't wait to play with the dolphins again. Geoff and Connie have sent pictures which I will attach when I have wifi again (that is not here).




Saturday - We left Two Way - Yeah!!! We finally departed from Two Way Boat Yard. We waited for high tide and the wind to drop and at 2:00 pm left the dock. We motored down the waterway for two hours, sea trialingthe new Yanmar in the Snow Goose. All systems are great with the exception of our Garmin wind indicators - we will look into thatat a further later. We are happy with the engine performance but intend to stay within travel distance of our mechanic for another day. We walked the State of Georgia and Ducks Unlimited wildlife preserve this AM - very pretty open land, but didn't see wildlife. Still no allegators but we are told by the duck hunters that the reason they don't have dogs is because of the allegators - dogs are allegator bait! We are anchored just off the waterway in a wide spot and it is beautiful. A white heron showed off to us. Tonight is supposed to be cold again and tomorrow, but Monday warmer. We are anxious to get south.
 
Sunday, we hauled anchor and got a late start.  It was cold and we didn't intend to travel too far away from our mechanic today anyway.  All went well until we reached Jekyll Point/Sound and then the engine died.  We dropped anchor, checked things out and called Boat US.  They towed us back to Jekyll Harbor.  We expect to see Tom Lee at 8 am tomorrow morning.  And so it goes for us in Georgia.