December 11, 2009
Aboard No Boundaries
The sands of time slip through the slot and fall away. The waters flow inexorably to the sea. Sun rises. Sun sets. Here we are – still.
We arrived in St. Marys, GA, on November 30. We knew when we arrived that we would be here a while. We knew that we didn’t know how long it would take to do what needed to be done.
We were pretty fortunate to get here. When we departed from the Motts Channel anchorage near Wrightsville, NC, we were adjusting to the discovery that Jacksonville, Florida, was no place for us. We had discovered that marina after marina thought that 6 feet of depth was “plenty of water.” People we met in Norfolk had suggested we consider Brunswick, GA, where depths are much more generous.
The problem was our need to make a side trip. I needed to visit my uncle and aunt in Pensacola. For as long as they have known that Larry and I planned to cruise, they have been inviting us to visit them if we made it to Florida. We needed to be able to leave the boat in a safe place for that visit, and it was starting to look a little more complicated than we had imagined.
From the Motts Channel anchorage, we followed the ICW to the Cape Fear River. There we left the waterway and followed the river into the Atlantic. It was a gorgeous day. A breeze blew up, we raised the sail, and headed south, or to be more accurate, southwest. After an hour or so, we noticed two other sailboats behind us. Larry struck up a conversation with them and discovered that they were headed for Fernandina Beach off the St. Marys inlet at the border between Georgia and Florida. After we discovered that they knew the location and knew that it had the depth for full-keeled boats, we decided to pass by Brunswick and head for St. Marys, too.
Two mornings later we arrived at St. Marys Inlet. We called the Fernandina Harbor Marina and made a reservation. Then we overheard a couple of other boats talking about their plans. One of them was headed for Langs Marina in St. Marys on the Georgia side of the inlet. When we heard the voice on the radio say that Langs charges $1.00 per foot, we got pretty excited. The marina in Fernandina Beach wanted $1.75. We thought $1.00 sounded more like our price.
I quickly found Langs Marina in our guidebook and made a call. Sure enough, the price for a daily rental is $1.00 per foot. The weekly price of $.75 per foot per day was even better. I called Fernandina Beach to cancel and we headed for St. Marys.
After we got here, we began to calculate what we had to do. It would be a week at least for some errands, a couple of shipments and our trip to Pensacola. Then Larry needed to work on the generator. It might be at least two weeks before we could leave. We discovered that the monthly price at Langs was $7.00 per foot. Simple math made it clear that we would be ahead to pay for a month and leave when we got ready. We could take the time we needed without pressure.
Well, we are, indeed, taking our time, because the boat repair syndrome has struck us again. Larry started working on the generator, and there came a time when he needed to start it up so he could test the results. Guess what. It would not start. He had started it a couple of times during his work, but not this time. No starting was happening.
We aren’t the only people afflicted with such problems. Friends who had left St. Marys several days ago are on hold in Fernandina Beach due to similar issues. So it isn’t just us. It is boat life.
So we wait. Time passes. Winter approaches. Even in south Georgia, winter is cold. It was almost down to freezing this morning, and we dug out a couple of heaters. We thought we had escaped all this! I hope that relay gets here Monday. I hope the generator starts, and I hope that it charges the batteries like crazy. And I hope we pack up all our toys and head south soon.
Tick, tick, tick.
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