MEETING FRIENDS (NEW & OLD), MOORING BALLS, ANCHORAGES & WAKES FROM "HELL"

SO.....the answer to the question of "How long would the feelings of anticipation and euphoria last?"

To be perfectly honest, they come and go regularly!!! 😂😂

As we cruised towards Fernandina Beach, our first official stop, we were still enjoying our gorgeous "bon voyage" day. We decided to use a mooring ball during our visit, instead of docking at a marina. I mean what would go wrong with that decision?

As we approached the mooring ball, I was asking Scott what to do. He just told me to simply hook onto the ball with my useful pole and attached hook contraption. Of course, we had never practiced this before shoving off. When we arrived at the ball, I explained there was nothing to attach to. As we continued bickering back and forth, I finally said "Don't get crazy with me, I've never seen one of these before." He surprisingly answered, "Well I haven't either!". And here I thought he knew everything 😜. Things heated up quickly, and I asked to move to another mooring ball which had buoys attached. Begrudgingly, he moved us over to another mooring ball and lo and behold the buoys were attached to a ring. I couldn't see this on the other ball, because there were no buoys. Needless to say the feelings of euphoria had left us for a few minutes, but we survived our demons and moved on. (Similar to how we have survived 41 years of marriage. LOL)

I told Scott later, "It's your tone that riles me up, check the tone!". Now, throughout the journey, I remind him of his tone.

The main reason for visiting Fernandina Beach, was to see friends from the NC mountains that live there. We had said our goodbyes to Brittany, Karl and the kids in Jacksonville. Or so we thought!

They were returning home from a few days in South Carolina and decided to detour to Fernandina for a few hours. So, they parked their camper and we hung out and visited for a while. Seriously, we just can't seem to shake them! 😊 Just kidding kids, we loved it ❤️

Before dinner, we visited Florida's oldest bar, The Palace Saloon, for a drink. While sitting at the bar, we met a nice couple who were also cruising The Great Loop, Chris and Cheri on Anchored Souls. We cut our conversation short, as we had to meet our friends for dinner. As you will see later in this blog, meeting new friends along this journey is one of the greatest blessings. Little did we know how true this is. This quick bar conversation, has resulted in a lifetime friendship and buddy boating along the way. Stay tuned!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and conversation with Ted, Mary Lou and Helen at Salt Life Food Shack. Ted and Mary Lou drove us around after dinner and shared stories/landmarks of Ted's hometown. We had a great evening!

Fun Fact: When we are anchored or attached to a mooring ball, Harlie has to be taken to shore in the dinghy to do her thing. We have tried and tried and tried the fake grass pad, but have had only limited success. Oh well, it is what it is!

Next on our itinerary was Cumberland Island. It was a short jaunt north, and we found a great anchorage spot. As for as our first anchoring, it went surprisingly well.

We ran the dinghy into shore and had a great day touring the island, observing the wildlife, walking around the historic abandoned structures and hiking on the beach.

When we left the next morning, we were escorted by the dolphins and eagles. We always take that as a good sign. It was another beautiful day!

As we approached Jekyll Island, our next port, we decided to try a marina dockage. They guided Scott and our 40ft boat into about 41ft, as we said prayers and bit our tongues. We made it into the space and all in all it was a great stay. Again, such a small world, as there was a Grand Banks trawler at our stern that was docked across from us in Jacksonville for weeks. We enjoyed the beautiful sunsets, laundry machines and complimentary golf carts. We drove around the island sightseeing, shopping and had happy hour at a beachside bar.

These pics show how close we were docked to other boats.

Bow

Stern

Looks like someone had more than one in dog beers!

The resort on Jekyll Island is beautiful and surrounded by historic homes and "cottages".

Driftwood Beach is also located here, and it did not disappoint. So many different shapes and imaginary images.

Our site on the outside dock allowed us many sights, including a small cruise ship that sails the Intracoastal Waterway and gorgeous sunsets.

The views on this journey are starkly different from our land journey last year, but just as magnificent. We have been over this bridge numerous times by car and motorhome, but the view from the water is so different.

More dolphins (it's a daily event), eagles and a cow on an island, named "Cow Island". Not sure how he or she got there?

All of the sudden, out of the blue, we found ourselves cruising behind Anchored Souls, the friends we met at the bar in Fernandina Beach. We radioed to them and followed along to an anchorage. They came over to our boat for happy hour and snacks.

The next day we buddy boated again and enjoyed more spectacular scenery. The dolphins followed along with us.

Anchoring together again, they reciprocated and had us over for drinks/snacks. Do you see a pattern forming???

Another amazing sunset!

And sunrise!

We decided to go to Savannah together and stay at the free dock on River Street. We were hopeful that 2 spots would be available. Chris wanted to know our Plan B? Surprisingly, we had none!! 🤪

We were shocked to see 2 free spots on the wall were available. Ours was right in front of the ferry! A feeling of fear began rising in my stomach. This was the first time docking without any assistance on the dock. I had to loop the line over the cleat at the back of the boat and hold us steady, until Scott could come down from the bridge to help with the bow line. To my dismay, there was a crowd up on the sidewalk watching, as well. I tried several times and then nailed my throw as they all cheered along, yeah.... Then, to my utter horror, I pulled on the wrong end of the line and off the cleat it came! Then the crowd went ohhhhhh..... Scott could hear all the commotion from up above and was laughing at my demise. I roped the cleat again a second time and all was well. 😊

I have decided that all of our trials and tribulations occur for the simple reason that it gives me something to write about and maybe something to laugh about later (Much later, lol).

Our friend Don was on a ferry crossing the river and actually photographed us as we were docking.

We had an awesome time in Savannah touring the city, watching freighters pass our boat, eating at great restaurants, etc.

We also enjoyed a great dinner with more friends from the mountains, Don and Lisa Calvert and their son Nate. They have a beautiful home in the historic district, and it was a lovely evening in their courtyard.

We said our farewells to Chris and Cheri, as we headed our separate ways. We were headed to Hilton Head to meet up with more mountain friends, Bob and Lise Dews (also, their friends Susan and Ray). The six of us had a great day enjoying lunch and dinner by their beautiful RV site, bike riding to Harbour Town and just catching up. It's amazing to us just how many friends we have who live close to the waterfront towns we are visiting. As you can imagine, there are more to come....

Our days on the water bring so many interesting sights. More eagles and a green channel marker that is actually white from all the bird sh*t!!

One of the many swing bridges that we have approached.

As we move north, the docks and walks are getting longer and longer, due to the shallow coastal waters of Georgia and South Carolina.

Heading north to Charleston, we passed Anchored Souls, as they were anchored on the Intracoastal. We were both visiting Charleston, but on different days.

We also made the Great Loop Facebook page that day, as someone took a photo of us as we passed by.

We were meeting more mountain friends in Charleston, Donna and Kevin Bradley. Lucky for all of us, we found a hotel in Charleston that also had an attached marina. We arrived a day early and took advantage of a nearby Publix to provision. First time provisioning on foot! We enjoyed an awesome dinner on the stern.

It was a nice weekend walking around Charleston, drinks on the boat, brunch downtown and the view from the marina. We were even treated to a spectacular fireworks display off the back of the boat. We still have no idea what was being celebrated!

We stayed in Charleston one additional night because of high winds. The winds subsided some overnight, so we took off at sunrise as they were due to pick up later in the day.

That day on the water brought gorgeous views of estate homes, nature at its finest, beached boats, low tides and windy windy conditions. Luckily, the protected waters stay fairly calm, until you find yourself in a sound!

We arrived just outside of Georgetown SC early afternoon and decided to anchor outside the harbor area. We dropped the anchor, but the wind was crazy, and we decided to pull it up and find a calmer spot. Much to our dismay, or Scott's I should say, the windlass was not working. The windlass is a mechanical device that lifts and lowers the anchor, as it is VERY heavy. If it fails, the anchor must be lifted manually. Which is what Scott had to do, along with 75' of chain, while I drove the boat. A few choice words were said. Again, I said "Watch the tone!". So now he will watch his tone by speaking to me with a British accent and calls me Love! The meaning is the same, but the tone is much better. 🤪

We put the nix on anchoring and headed into Georgetown to any marina that would answer our call. After 3 unsuccessful radio calls to marinas, Harborwalk answered us and three individuals were on hand to assist us in docking during the strong winds. We took a walk around town and relieved our stress at a dockside bar/restaurant.

The next day, we received a text from Chris and Cheri on Anchored Souls asking, "Where are you? Head into Myrtle Beach and we'll wait for you". They were staying at Barefoot Landing, a free day dock, but they had been there for multiple days. So we headed there and joined them for one night.

On our way, we had a gorgeous ride. It seems every few days on the water brings a different landscape. This day was no exception (i.e., Pirate ships, cypress lined canals, more swing bridges, mansions and paddlewheel boats.

We left Myrtle Beach enroute to Southport NC to a free dock at the Provision Co, a restaurant that provides free docking if you dine. The day on the water started uneventful with nice views, our first sight of NC dunes and the longest dock so far along the way.

As we arrived in Southport, Chris tried to dock first and was blown sideways by strong winds. He radioed us and said no way for him, he was going outside to anchor. We decided to join him, otherwise we might have made the restaurant a drive-thru, by boat!!!

We dropped our anchor and prepared for a rocky evening. We had no idea what was coming!

Ferry boats (2) crossed near us, every 30 - 45 minutes, causing wakes from HELL! Everything came off our counters, even cabinets that were strapped came open and the contents spilled out onto the floor. This included the bar, although all bottles stayed intact. We decided we were going to move, as this was unacceptable. Guess what? The windlass did not operate again. Scott started working on that, as I googled how to fix it. Then, everytime a wake would come, I would hightail it inside and prepare for the onslaught. Chris and Cheri were taking video from afar, amazed at the way the boat rocked. They even saw the drive shaft/prop at one point.

We finally got the anchor up and we all moved several miles up the river to another anchorage. All was well. We even had a full moon shining on us.

All was well at least until 6:00am, when we were awakened by another wake. It actually tossed us around in bed, and everything that didn't fall off the counter the day before, came crashing down.

We had reservations at Carolina State Park Marina the next day, but I wasn't doing this (i.e., the wakes) anymore. We finally pulled anchor (along with having battery issues) and went into the marina a day early.

This is what we learned:

Everything on a boat is broken, you just don't know it yet!!!!!

Until next time....

PS. If you would like to keep track of our current location, you can download the Nebo app onto your mobile device from the App store. Register on the app, just skip the part about your boat and search for Southern Tides. You can also put through a friend request and we will accept.

NEXT UP: GOOD TIMES AHEAD, THE SCOOTER GANG, BAD WEATHER & WHAT ELSE IS BROKEN!!!