Provisions

Best chili ever! 

 

Provisions:

Living on an Island definitely has its advantages usually outweighing the disadvantages. On those rare occasions when you are looking for certain things and you can’t seem to track them down it can be frustrating.  Thank the stars for Amazon Prime.  Without Amazon how would the world function?  Amazon does have its drawbacks, like two day shipping is relative to when you start the clock on the two days. Oftentimes, Island Hopp’n is between ship to addresses causing a backlog of essential items in the shopping cart.  Sometimes Amazon doesn’t have certain items in stock and you have to take drastic measures and order from Amazon’s competition….Walmart.

The other jar is in the fridge.

On this rare particular instance Walmart Online was the choice for this provisioning of the boat. Walmart was the only option available to fulfill this unique order of carefully selected items.

Item number one, top of the list, one case of  Chilli Man Vegetarian Chili with Beans.  After going to four different stores, Publix, Winn-Dixie, Walmart, and Kmart for the chili with no success it was time to go online and order.  Why get a can or two when you can get a case.  Who doesn’t need a case of canned chili?  Second item, two jars of  Herdez Guacamole Salsa.  Access to acceptable hot sauce has been an ongoing battle for months.  Hot sauce or salsa is not pico de gallo.  It is not cut up tomatoes, onions, and vinegar.  Two jars should last about two weeks hopefully.  Oh no! “your order doesn’t qualify for free shipping.”  The minimum order amount has not been met, two bucks short!  You gotta be kidding.

After the fishing trip last week we came back with one less lure. Not sure how we lost a lure when we caught zero fish. To complete the order, why not replace the lure that didn’t seem to catch any fish makes perfect sense.  Yeah, free shipping.

“Your order will ship in three to five business days.” Here we go.  Past experience with Walmart’s shipping has been bumpy to say it mildly. “Click here for delivery details. Your order will be delivered Wednesday and Thursday and Friday”????   I guess this is the Hanukkah order, one item per day over a week rather than one big box to open.  The “scheduled” delivery dates has the green sauce arriving Wednesday, chili Thursday, and the lure on Friday.  Regardless of the shipping, we were really excited to get these things.

The guacamole sauce arrived unscathed on Wednesday and was put into immediate action. Thursday was an exciting day.  The chili I had been searching for over the past several weeks was arriving.  I waited patiently for the status to change from “Out for Delivery” to “Delivered.”  There it was, the case of chili Walmart imported for me had arrived.  What the heck is this other shoe box with my name on it?  What else did I order?  Tearing into the shoe box much to my chagrin it was the gold spoon. I guess the spoon had been “expedited.” 

Guess what’s for dinner tonight?

Wilbur by the sea…

Wilbur by the sea:

 

Finally, it’s time to pull up stakes, untie, and get out of Dodge. The weather during the first several weeks in Marineland was cold and windy.  Not many folks shuffling around.  After spring had sprung the second week of February the beaches starting to accept sunbathers, fisherman, and those in search of precious metals like Louis Vuitton sunglasses or an Iphone X.  I did ask one guy if he has ever found any Bitcoin with his metal detector.  No comment.  With all the people out and about, it’s time to move it down the line.

The plan is to head south to the Keys.  Day one of hopefully eight has Island Hopp’n heading for New Smyrna.  This is somewhat familiar turf.  After spending four months in Daytona Beach last summer we had a decent idea how far we can get on a weekday.

During the summer, Coquina Marina had about 30 boats on the fixed wooden docks.  The quick run- down on the marina.  This was the old yacht club, so it had about fifty slips, a huge ballroom, pool, and fitness room.  They have an ice machine in the laundry room.  All the ice you wanted.  Irma did a number on Coquina and I was quite interested to see how the rebuild was coming along.  With binoculars in hand I saw well, nothing when passing by.  All the docks have been removed and no signs of rebuilding.  It looked like they turned a marina into a wedding venue.

With about 20 miles to New Smyrna we pulled off short in Wilbur by Sea, Florida.  Adventure Harbor is a small out of the way marina between the busy Daytona Beach area and tourist hot spot off Ponce Inlet with a hopping little restaurant, Boondocks.  This is in the bustling town of Wilbur by the Sea.

One night on the dock and we are off and running.  It’s good to be back on the move.

Marineland

 

Marineland, FL:

After a week of looking for warmer weather we continue by turning the bow North.?. Wait aren’t we heading the wrong way? Marineland is halfway between Palm Coast and St. Augustine, FL. Capt’n Mike said its equidistant between the two cities. I agreed by saying “yah it’s in the middle, I know.” This area was hit hard by both Matthew and Irma. The Ocean met the ICW leaving the marina four feet under water. They are slowly getting back in shape.

 

The plan was to meet the Dockmaster at high noon. Making the ten mile run up to the marina we actually passed about six or seven boats heading south. This was the most boat traffic we have seen the entire trip. Up to this point a vessel every two or three hours was the norm. A couple of trawlers all mid forty’s, four sailboats, and 52 foot catamaran. It was good to see all the boats on the water. It appears like the frost is melting and the Ditch is seeing some movement for the first time in 2018.

It was 11:30 so we ate some soup and waited. After doing doughnuts for a while a Searay 48’ Sundancer was baring down on us so we headed in the Marina. We called the Dockmaster on 16 with no response. Its was 11:47. My phone rang, it was the Dockmaster. He was mad as on ole wet hen that we proceeded into the marina with out him there and he let me know it. Not my decision but I took one for the team.  After a short planning session on how to approach and tie up we headed into the slip. The first thing we did was throw out the notes from the planning sessions. These are fixed docks so we began lashing dock lines together to make 40ft stern string lines. Gee, sure would have been nice to have the dock lines we left in Amelia Island.

Tour De Marineland

 

Tour De Marineland:

The first leg in the quest for warmer weather is complete.  Aiming for Palm Coast we pulled in after a short run down from St. Augustine.  Not being sure if Palm Coast is where we want to hole up for a while we made a reservation for the night to do some surveillance before committing.  This turned into the makings of a problem.  After getting settled in we headed to marina office/boaters lounge/brokerage firm/coffee shop/ and library.  Busy place.  They had the overnight reservation.  Asking if a monthly stay was possible I got the deer in the head lights look.  Not really the answer I was anticipating. The 40 ft. dock was completely full, but they might have room elsewhere.  They would know if we could stay in four days.  The dockmaster who could assign us a slip would be back in four days.

Being the eternal pessimist, I start looking for other marinas.  With a Small Craft Advisory in effect moving Island Hopp’n didn’t seem like too much fun.  It’s finally time to dust off the bikes and head over to Marineland Marina and check it out.   Dahon Mariners are great bikes and an absolute essential.  We rode to town, hit a garage sale, and found the grocery store.  How far is the other marina?  Quick search showed the marina was 9.7 miles away.  The first two miles were not awful, the view from atop the causeway showed the ICW north and south and Atlantic.  You could see strong white caps violently crashing in the ocean.  From several miles away, you could see how rough the waters were.  I was very glad not to be on the water, small craft advisory usually means a day off.  If not, it should.

Green 87 near Marineland

Marineland is seven miles north up A1A.  For the next seven miles we were not living the dream.  Riding a folding bicycle with 16-inch tires against sustained 20+mph north winds is a fabulous strength training exercise.  Coming soon, a 2:00am infomercial selling this as a workout program.  I believe the small craft advisory used the verbiage “gale force.”  At least the ride back would be easier I kept telling myself.

On the way back, it was time for a bite and an adult beverage or just an excuse to get out of the wind.  We ducked into JT’s Seafood Shack http://www.jtseafoodshack.com/home  with a happy hour and great food.  An hour later with renewed energy we made the trek back to Palm Coast.  I laugh, every time we ride these Dahon Mariner folding bikes someone asks about them.  At every grocery store, restaurant, and shop we stop at, the passersby who inquires, about them gets the same glowing review and comments how we can’t live without them. To be fair, often the person inquiring is just outside to have a smoke and it’s comical to be preaching the benefits of cycling.

We decided to move to Marineland Marina.

Let me tell you what I’m looking for in a Fort.

Let me tell you what I’m looking for in a Fort:

 

Coming down from Jax toward St. Augustine we made great time even through the Palm Valley cut. Palm Valley is a gorgeous stretch of ICW with houses and docks in that area which are really nice.  Unless you are trying to make time. I would be curious how those quaint waterfront piers and the Lego puzzle piece floating docks fair against a 60 ft. Sportfish going 30 knots with an eight-foot wake?  Just curious.

As we got closer to the St. Augustine inlet the Garmin navigation display would say 10.2, 10.8, 11 miles per hour.  Eleven mph is exhilarating when you usually get excited about 8.0.  The tidal chart may have the copyright on the Law of Averages principle.  Knowing we are going to have to pay the piper on the other side of the inlet we expected to have a low and slow going last few miles.  Barreling toward, well the red barrel, the easterly turn around the buoy proved my suspicions to be correct.  I hate it when I’m right.  The Garmin display showed 3.8 mph.  Making matters worse, the dolphin tours boat had two decks full of onlookers zip past us watching us go 3 miles an hour.

Big Viking little Albin

Previously stopping in Camachee, which is north St. Augustine, the dockmaster assigned us a slip underneath the bow of a 74 ft. Viking.  So, this time we thought we would give the City Marina a try.   Idling out front of the marina, hanging bumpers, and waiting for our slip assignment the dolphin boat toots their horn at us since Island Hopp’n is parked in the marina entrance.  Giving them space, the sight-seeing boat was able to get in the marina and we were assigned our slip.  The friendly dockmaster helped with the lines and bumpers and getting us tied up without any incident.  About this time the Dolphin boat passengers are disembarking and walking past our boat, saying “Hello”, “They like the boat”, “we saw you out by the lighthouse”.  We must have been the star of the 2:45 tour.

http://www.scenic-cruise.com/

Historical District

Going Old School

The Oldest city in the United States was hopping at 4:00 O’clock.  Music, horse-drawn carriage rides, folks just out enjoying the afternoon.  We walked the dog through historical downtown all the way across to the fort.  Which is an actual fort.  Not to be confused with historical points on the map that say Fort (somewhere) and get there and head up then down the hill.  Ask the guy “where’s the fort?” He says you just walked through it.  Let me tell you what I’m looking for in a Fort.  Fort San Marcos doesn’t disappoint.

Nightlife in St. Augustine

Fort Matanzas

The historical district was very nice.  Restaurants, Art Galley’s, and gift shops.  Small independently owned Inn’s still actually exist here in St. Augustine.  The folks here are friendly to all us out of towners. Came across the Giggly Gator on our morning run which is not in the historical district.  This could be a stop on the next trip to town.  Full disclosure, it’s across the street from the local shelter.  St. Augustine will see us again in the future maybe for an extended stay.

Duck Boots

Sorrel Duck Boots

 

Duck boots:

 

Finally, no more duck boots.  Duck boots have no place on the boat anyway, but they have been worn every day since early December.  That has been the fundamental problem with this season’s freezing weather.  The boots were put away today and the Keens are back in the rotation.  As everyone knows, one of the most import aspects of boating is footwear.  Yeah, shoes! My boots, Elmer Fudd style, saved my bacon walking up and down icy gangways for the last two months hopefully they stay stowed until next year.

The forecast for today’s jaunt down to St. Augustine was rain in the morning clearing later in the day.  It was overcast when we untied.  It looked like rain but didn’t for hours and I noticed one of the wiper blades was torn.  I’ll put it on the list.  Speaking of the list, Amazon Prime has probably submitted a missing person’s report since we have not had anything delivered in six days.  The cardboard box company has had employee layoffs after no boat parts have been shipped to us in washing machine sized boxes for spare fuses  or replacement kitchen knife.  I guess being between “Ship to Addresses” is a cruiser’s dilemma.

Have you seen my friends?

Speaking of the list, guess what’s on it now?  New docks lines that match the dock lines left on the Amelia Island floating dock.  When asked, “Did you grab the dock lines I threw off the bow this morning?”  That equates to “I left the lines on dock, by any slim chance would you have possibly picked them up?”  Seriously.!.  After inventorying the lines that I put out, they were all accounted for, the other lines not set by me are not making the trip farther south apparently.  Of course, it was the two newer longer lines that were nowhere to be found.  It’s NEVER the old crummy ones you are like “AAH” no big loss on that one, it’s always the brand new one with the sales tag still on.

Buzzed by a Warthog

A-10 Anti-tank Aircraft

Buzzed by a Warthog:

Every boater has that one day, the one story, the day they almost traded in the water life for solid ground permanently.  That day came while heading north in October.  After Irma the decision was made to head north.  Southeast winds were steady at 20mph for Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina the entire trip. 65 miles daily with the tailwind was easy.  All was good until Small Craft Advisory day in the Georgia Sounds.  Just south of St. Andrews in the Cumberland river you could see the white caps from two miles out.  Tides were heading out toward the Atlantic and the wind was blowing against the tide.  If you have ever been through this area you will know the last buoy before the turn, Red #32, is basically offshore.  We held out just past Little Cumberland island in 10 footers before waiving the white flag spinning the wheel 180 degrees and heading back.

After cutting around Horseshoe shoal we made it to Brunswick.  We felt like we had been in a prize fight and lost but could at least tell the story.  The dockmaster looked at us like we were nuts and said the offshore buoy was showing 13 footers at 7 seconds intervals.  It took about fifteen minutes to get the anchor chain untangled that had flown out of the chain locker landing all over the cabin and galley.  Yah, it sucked.

So today this would be our chance to get back at the ICW stretch that kicked our butt.  With a close eye on the weather, wind, and tide for days everything seemed like smooth sailing.  At 5:30am the stars were perfectly clear we should be able to get off the dock and into Florida out of these Sounds.  About 6:30 the dog decided it was the appropriate time to take her out.  Capt’n Mike yelled from the stern “where did the boat go that was behind us?  I can see about 20 feet.  I thought you said it was clear?” Dense fog advisory in effect, are you kidding me.  So much for our warmer weather any time soon.

The fog cleared about 10:00 so we untied and headed out from Jekyll Island, GA toward Jacksonville, FL. Once around the point of Jekyll Island we saw well nothing… The fog was rolling in blanketing the Sound. We don’t have radar and laugh at the boats spinning radar in perfect visibility.  I want radar.  The fog bank had been letting up quickly as the sun rose but not in the Sound.  Had St. Andrews Sound beaten us again?  It looked like it.  At idle, should we forge on or turn back?  We see our familiar friend Moon Tide from the previous day about a mile back heading our direction.  A quick radio call letting them know how the fog was building the conversion quickly turned optimistic when they said (I’m paraphrasing) “We spend the summers in Maine, we know fog, we got this, feel free to tuck in behind us.”  A little over an hour in dense fog made for another stressful cross of the St. Andrews Sound in the exact same stretch which will forever be burned into my brain and heart.

Buzzed by a Warthog:     

Fernandina Barge

 

With the late start off the Jekyll harbor marina dock it was one of those days that you end up between running 20 or aiming for 45 miles which is very wishful thinking.  I looked at Jacksonville marinas and Fernandina beach marinas.  The US submarine base is just of the ICW at Kings bay.  Capt’n Mike asked if they have overnight dockage at the base and do they give a BoatUS discount. I didn’t see them listed on Active Captain.  Maybe we will check rates next trip.  Speaking of military hardware.  When was the last time you heard “we just got buzzed by a warthog”?  This is what I was met with coming out of the cabin this afternoon.  With a finger point in the easterly direction two military airplanes are 500 yards above the bow.  Being thrilled with the level of protection provided by the military I asked “What’s a Warthog?” After several minutes of due diligence, the A-10 Warthog is an $18.8 million dollar anti-tank aircraft protecting the Florida ICW.

Two Dimes

Two Dimes:

When on the move the daily rituals starts with checking the oil level, fuel gauges, wind and current. Hopefully everything is boring. Oil is normal, fuel is less than yesterday, and no small craft advisory. Boring is great. Oil was just below full. Coolant topped off check. Port side fuel tank bone dry.?. On the boat we have a several back up systems that are relied on. One being the fuel gauge. A fuel gauge on a boat is about as reliable as a sunny fourth of July weather forecast. Using the fuel tank dipstick the result was surprising, bone dry. Well how much was in the tank? If you stacked two dimes on top of each other that would be about how much diesel registered on the dipstick. We’d better switch to the starboard tank.

The charts showed several cheats from Darien to St. Simon. Should we? For ten seconds the cut was an idea but we aren’t that brave.

Fortunately, as Island Hopp’n finally made it out of the Darien river tide we had a tour guide Moon Tide. A 55ft. sailboat that hugged the magenta line to a T. Okay corners are cut to keep up with her. We both tied up in Jekyll for a good night of food, laundry, and happy hour at Zachry’s.

The folks at Jekyll Harbor Marina were the most gracious and friendly we have come across. Every boat forward, rear and three at our flank welcomed us, recommended a restaurant, pointed out the working outlet, and said the dog was precious. They must have something in the water there for these Jekyllians to be so darn gracious.

Snail Drag Race

After getting off the dock this morning with frozen dock lines and a thin sheet of ice on the bow when casting off I did stop to take this photo of the sunrise.

The goal today St. Simon Island. As the crow flies or DTW it’s 52 miles. With ten hours of day light, fuel tanks topped off, sounds like the makings of a delivery caption day, we should be cruising into the marina at 2:30. Nope, it’s the Georgia ICW. Isle of Hope to St. Simon is 90 miles of switchbacks and marshes.

One obstacle to overcome was going through Hell today. The last time going through Hell we had an escort at the absolute worst time of day. We hit Hell at dead (no pun) low tide. Tide level was minus half a foot. The Dock Master at Delegal Marina has the local connection who has been helping novices and late boaters through Hell Gate for decades. These are the amazing folks who help cruisers get up and down the ditch for no compensation or notoriety, they just like to help boaters. They led us through without a hitch. Although we saw two feet on the depth finder we draw three.

 

On the trip north in October red can #90 was easy to spot in Hell Gate, it was lying in the mud. When the channel marker is beached you think it’s broken loose. Hell Gate is one of those spots to pay very close attention to because it can definitely ruin your day. After going through Hell I would definitely recommend that route during high tide.

So how did things go today? An hour after leaving the dock a tug and barge are spotted several miles ahead. Wondering where the barge was headed I was surprised when it turned 90 degrees south through Hell Gate. This big barge was going through the pass and I’m worried? It was two hours to high tide, but we had plenty of water under the boat. Once through the pass into Ossabow Sound the barge was miles ahead. The race was on.

A pocket trawler and transport tug and barge in a race at 7 knots is like watching paint dry or snails drag race. I’m sure the suspense in killing you. This is monumentally uneventful until the pass is attempted. With a mile left in the sound could the pass be completed before the south turn? Well, we kicked it up a notch and Island Hopp’n reached out her neck and twenty minutes later smoked by the barge at eight knots. What a race! My blood pressure is back under the doctor’s acceptable levels after the drag race.

Knowing St. Simon was not going to happen before dark we needed to find an alternative. Darien, GA sounded good with a nightly dockage rate of zero dollars per foot. A strong tide was going against us so that was a long seven miles of are we there yet. We tied up during outgoing tide and noticed the boat was listing.

Warmth…. there is Hope

Warmth…. there is Hope.

 

32 degrees seems to be a point of contention.  Once again hooded jacket and gloves are on for trek to the ship store at sunrise.  The dog gave a second look as to why we are out before the water dish stops being popsicle. She may be on to something.

After being tied up since the day before New Year’s everyone was ready to get off the dock. Do we still remember how to navigate this vessel?  Well Island Hopp’n made it out of the marina unscathed and nobody had to change their underwear or make an insurance claim.

 

 

The escape from freezing weather lead us south to……. Margaritas at Tequila Town Restaurant.  Nothing says I’m tired of being cold like a frozen $2 happy hour margarita.  We were so desperate for margaritas we took the Nike express and to get our daily workout in. They have a free loaner car but we thought walking would was a better idea. Isle of Hope Marina offered a reprieve from the winter weather blues.

The Ditch is still pretty empty. We may have passed a total of three boats on the water. The dock hand at Isle of Hope Marina mentioned we were the first transient he has had this year. The other dock hand proudly announced he has seen two. We went from the gold metal to bronze in five seconds. The winds have been less than 10mph and not much traffic, so life has been smooth sailing thus far.