Savannah, GA to Jacksonville, FL : Day 2 : Rest, Rest, Rest

Dinghy Ride

Leg 1 : Day 2 (17MAR11):

Breakfast: Maple and brown sugar oatmeal + bananas
Lunch: Salami + baby swiss cheese sandwiches, Pringles Chips, and pickles
Dinner: Mashed potatoes topped with chili and cheese
Treats: M&Ms
Snacks: Oranges, Apple Jacks cereal

We stayed anchored off of St. Catherines Island on Walburg Creek.

KJ and I exercised on the deck, and the whole family spent a lot of
time on deck watching dolphins swimming by and watching and listening
to bird calls.

Thanks to its special climate, the he island is used by the New York Zoological society to breed colonies of rare and endangered animals like gazells, parrots, and Madagascar turtles although we never saw any of them.

We took the dinghy out for a ride, testing the engine repairs Val and
her dad made. PERFECT!

Todays most over used daddy refrain: "Girls, clean up your room!"

Tonight's sunset was gorgeous.

Savannah, GA to Jacksonville, FL : Day 1 : Bump, Pee, Puke

Day 1(16MAR11):


This day isn't at all what we wanted in our first day.  

It all started with the cast off .... it was horrendous! The tide we wanted to
ride out pushed us so hard that we almost side swiped another boat. 
As we went sliding toward the other boat I yelled, "Oh shit Val we are
going to hit her!" and I, like a jackass, went over to try to stop the
collision with my arms.  The result was that my shoulder popped out.


Pushing the arm back in, Val and I did some quick maneuvers with the throttle and we were able to get out of the situation.  No damage to any other boats, but in the process of pushing off we bent 2 of our side stantions, and the base of one stations
fiberglass backing cracked.  


We were not going to stop now, it was time to lick our wounds and go.
As we motored out of Wassaw sound, we were making a good clip thanks
to the tide.  Before we knew it, we were at the mouth of the sound
ready to face the big pond.


Sails up and it is time to motor-sail out.

"IT'S NOT PEEING!" Val yelled out.  Looking down, I could see that our
main engines cooling mechanism wasn't working. Oh shit.  This was the
damn thing we had fixed back in port.  Was this another sign to turn
back?  If the engine doesn't cool, it will lock up leaving us
engineless.  Sure we have sails, but in and out of small confined
areas, an engine sure is handy ... especially if there is no wind.

We had to do a serious gut check... multiple options were thrown out
then Val went down to the engine and pushed a rod up the pee hole.
Some water started to trickle out .... that was good, that would help
the engine cool some.  BUZZZ! The engine temperature alarm went off.
We were hitting critical, Val kept shoving the rod up that hole.
Trickle trickle ... up went the sails to try to help us move forward
so we could get out of the main channel.  Trickle trickle.  In what
seemed like 30 minutes of BUZZZ on BUZZZ off, trickle trickle, and
trying to catch wind, Val's voice trumped, "SHES PEEING LIKE A RACE
HORSE!" HUZAH!

"Let's push on" I declared.

We aimed Ariel and got out of the 3 mile ring buoy and the channel, and we
shut off the engine ... sails fully deployed.

After a few hours of motor sailing, we elected to go back to just engine mode.
We could see that we were not getting enough South bound direction to
make it to St. Catherines, which was today's goal. The wind was coming
directly from the South.

We fired the engine back up and the pee flowed like Niagra Falls.

"Ughhhhhhh mmmugahhhlyaahhhh", "MOMMY!" out came a deep shrill cry...
I looked in and saw Val looking up at me... Dy got sea sick and shared
her breakfast all over herself and Val's clothes.

Val cleaned up Dy and everyone sat in the cockpit.  We rode South and
listened to the radio chatter.  We heard someone calling for Sea Tow
asking for help because they had grounded their Catamaran (42 footer)
on "Ossawaw" sound.  Val and I looked at each other ... ugh.

Continuing South, we pushed on...

Plotting as we went, we approached the 6 hour mark, a full 2 hours
past when we had planed on making to St. Catherines Island.  We still
had about another hour to go.  Both girls were asleep in the cockpit.

Finally we made it to St. Catherines sound.  We watched diligently for
the green can number 9 to help guide us in.  The can was gone! As we
approached where it should have been, we could see that someone had
hit it and knocked it off.  Dangerous as the rest of the can's
apparatus was still there, just submerged.

Turning in, we made our way back behind St. Catherines, found another
boat anchored, passed it a ways, and then sent down our anchor. We
don't have a windlass, electric or mechanical, so it is all brute
force strength.

After it felt like it set, Val went about shutting the boat down and
the kids danced and played.  They were happy that we stopped.  We were tired.

At this moment (as I write this), Val is cooking dinner (Chinese food) and I just heard
KJ say, "Oh look, wieners!" followed by giggles. They are looking at a
human anatomy book we brought along.

Today was a very stressful day.  We are glad we've gone for the trip.
Today did test our resolve.  Living the moments in real time make for
lots of pressure.  For years we dreamed of this day, it is finally
here, and we are exhausted.

Tomorrow will be a new day.  We will get to choose what we do.  Stay
here, enjoy the island, go North or go South.  Which will it be?  We
shall see.

Jacksonville, FL! Leg 1 done!

The first leg of our adventure is now complete.  After traveling for 8 days, we are now in Jacksonville, FL at the Ortega River Yacht Club Marina.  We have lots to log into our diary, and we will over the next few days.  Suffice it to say, the shower felt ohhhh sooooo good!!!

The girls did great, by the way.  Our second order of business at the marina was securing Ice Cream!

Wilmington Island Local Stuff

We took a walk Tuesday the 15th and visited a few of the local services of Wilmington Island.  First up with the local Firestation wherein we met Fireman Wilkins. He gave the girls the lo down on the fire house, the number calls the service, all the work firemen do, and a tour of their brand new fire truck which can hold 3,000 gallons of water!  He was obviously passionate about being a fireman and we felt good knowing he was always on call.




We also went to the local library.  It sucked. Well, it sucked if you were a kid. It is definitely not kid friendly. Sure they had a “kids” section, but the library itself wasn't inviting if you were or had kids.

Chef Wan

We found an awesome delivery Chinese Restaurant on Wilmington Island called Chef Wan.  We ended up eating the Chef's food 3 days out of the last 5 before setting off on the sail.  The prices are fantastic, and they deliver to the Maria.  The Teriyaki Chicken Sticks Combo was Val's favorite, while I enjoyed the Beef with Snow pea.  We topped off our selection with a few egg rolls.  There was so much food that the we simply shared with the girls.

Chef Wan
912-897-0203
432-B Johnny Mercer Blvd
Savannah, GA 31410

Food quantity

We've gone through and checked out how much food we have on the boat.  Our calculations show that we can go for 2 month on what we have! Water, on the other hand, can only make about 15 days at our current consumption rate.  If we ever had to stretch it, we could make it 20 days but we would be STINKY!

It has begun!

This morning we pushed off!!! We are currently sailing South!  Wahoo!  We are journeying!  The winds were out of the West, SouthWest and the tide is going out.  Nearly perfect conditions to start this.  The weather over the next 10 days looks fantastic.

Morning Of Push Off

Time to start the day.  A quick check of weather shows that everything looks good, the high tide is coming in, and the moon is a beautiful orange this morning.  I think it is a go!  The excitement is swirling around and making everything twice as vibrant in the moment.  Time to test all systems one last time, wait for the sun to pop up, and then we are off!

I SEE THE LIGHT!

And it isn't a train!!!

The light came in as promised by Dave. :)

Randy has installed our light. Thank you Randy! (Randy is one of the amazing boatyard guys at SailHarbor Marina that can do anything.  We've learned a lot from him, and we are fortunate to have met him.)

High tide tomorrow morning is at 5:45AM.

Our plan is to be pushing off the dock as soon as sunrise happens and ride the tide out to sea! We will finally be making some miles South.

We will go South for 4 or so hours and see how we feel. Maybe we will keep going, maybe we will stop and anchor for the night.  Who knows!?!

We will be using our Spot tracking satellite system to let everyone know that we are fine.

No clue about Wifi access as we go, so some of the blog updates may be spotty or of some of the other material we had wanted to share that we've queued up.

For the Virtual Crew members, we've been updating the Virtual Crew member only data page with lots of the details.   Enjoy!

Lights may come on!

Here is the light that has decided to hold us up a few days.  It normally sits atop the mast, but we had to take it down to investigate what was going on.  After lots of testing by the boatyard people and by us, we are convinced that the light is simply broken and that there is nothing wrong with our wiring.

Here is the story as it is today:
Val spent yesterday trying to get in touch with Orcagreen, the company that manufactured our mast light.  She left messages, but they never got back to her.  Val then called SailorsSolutions, the online company we bought our light through, and she talked an incredibly helpful person named Nick.  Through the conversation Val learned that there were talks between Orcagreen and other LED mast light companies (Signalmate and another) to create a whole new company.

Val then called SignalMate and talked with the SignalMate owner, Dave, and verified that a new company was indeed forming.  The new organization is called MiSea.  Dave then did something awesome, he offered to honor the warranty of Orcagreen and send us one of his companies products as a replacement .... not only that, but that he would cover the cost of overnighting the light to us so we could get on our journey!!! THANK YOU DAVE and SignalMate!!!

Today our new light may arrive, and the fantastic folks at Sail Harbor Marina Boatyard will install it.  This would allow us to push off tomorrow morning, just after high tide.

We are simply going with the flow.... to do otherwise would just result in being tired and frustrated. :)

Breakfasts

Here is a list of what we've had for breakfast the last few mornings:
Corned beef hash
Corn Flakes
Oatmeal (Apples and Cinnamon)
Fruit Loops
Oatmeal (Maple and Brown sugar) and bananas
Salami and Cheese
Breakfast Burritos (sausage, egg, cheese, tortilla, salsa)

Each morning starts off pretty much the same.  First task is to boil some water and make coffee with it.  The hot water is then used for other stuff like potentially making oatmeal, or hot tea, or even instant milk, all depending upon what's for breakfast that day.  Any hot water left after this is then put into a thermos for the remainder of the day.  The thermos has been fantastic at keeping the water hot for almost 20 hours.

Lights OUT

Our efforts today resulted in ...... NO LIGHTS!  The anchor light still doesn't work. During the day it is really hard to tell if it is working or not, but at night you can tell for sure.

First thing in the morning Val will go and secure some assistance from the boatyard folks.

We won't be leaving in the morning. :( Maybe Tuesday! :)

How long to travel on foot for 5 miles with 2 kids?

After working on the anchor light, we decided we would go for a walk. It is beautiful out today.  Our plan was to pack a backpack and walk to the playground here on Wilmington Island.  From previous trips in the car, we knew it was exactly 2.5 miles each way.

Off we went!  It took us nearly 2 hours to get there.  All along the way, we stopped to look at beautiful flowers, houses, and animals.  Once we got to the playground, the kids played hard for about an hour, we ate lunch, and then started the journey back. Val and I were determined to come back at a much faster rate, one targeting 20 minute miles.  It took us 56 minutes to cover the 2.5 miles.  Not bad!!! Mom, dad, a 5 year old, and a 2.9 year old.  The girls did great.... and are now taking naps. :)

Today is our first full day without access to a car.  We did just fine.

Lights Out

Tonight's pre-sail inspection of our lights revealed that neither our anchor light nor our tri light (a light used under sail power) was working.  One can get by without the later, but the former is very important when you are spending the night on the hook (at anchor in the middle of nowhere).

I whipped out my multi-meter and I can see that the fuse box terminals and the base of the mast has power for these lights, yet they are still not on.  This means that we will need to shimmy up the mast and inspect the unit at the very tip top.  That event will have to wait until the morning.

Such is the life of voyagers!

KJ's Bedroom

Ever wonder what a kids bedroom looks like on a sailboat named Ariel?  In this shot, you can see a portion of KJ's room .... the bed area.  She has elected to sleep perpendicular to the direction most people would sleep on the bed. :) The area in the upper left is a window (hatch) into KJ's room, but her drapes are drawn in this photo. Val did all the decorating, and she has received raved reviews from all those whom have seen it in person.  The picture doesn't do a good job of catching how vibrant the colors are.  I suspect that when KJ is 15, all those figures on the wall will be pictures of some boy bad icon.  Not sure I'm ready for that!

Go, Go, GO!

From the start of February til now has been go, go, go. At the start of February, we had 2 cars, an apartment half-full of stuff, Bill was still employeed, and a boat not ready to go and with engine trouble. Now that we are almost at mid-March, we have no cars, no apartment, only the stuff we kept for the boat, no employment, a full functioning engine, and a boat that could push off the dock at anytime. Wow, it's amazing how much can change in one month!

All of this could have not been accomplished, as quickly as it was, without the assistance of Bill's sister Jen and her spouse Iris. Jen kept KJ and Dy during the last full week of February, so that I could spent that week at the boat, getting her ready and Iris let me borrow her suv for a month.

During the last week of February, I was able to get the engine was fixed, transducer and fish finder installed, water system flushed, girl's room redecorated with Princess and Fairies, the boat cleaned from bow to stern (on the inside), adjust the location of stuff for weighting purposes, and gas tanks and propane tanks filled.

Bill was hard at work that last week, as well. He was still working and empting the apartment of stuff.

After all of the hard work, this week has been the finale. Monday we turned the apartment back over to its management, visited my dad in Alabama, and it was Bill's last day at work. On Tuesday, we drove from Alabama to Savannah and started putting the last of our stuff away. Wednesday was another day of hauling stuff from Iris' suv to the boat and Thursday was spent on the galley and putting stuff away, ending in a nice visited from Bill's brother David and his wife Nancy.

Today and tomorrow we have a few more loose ends to tie up, ending with a visit from Jen and Iris. We are soooo close. If the weather stays as predicted, we will be shoving off from the dock on Sunday morning, headed South.

Thank you, for everything Jen and Iris!! We love y'all!!!

David and Nancy visit

This afternoon my brother David and his wife Nancy came out to visit us. KJ and Dy had never met their uncle and aunt, making this an extra extra special visit. After catching up a bit and giving a nickel  tour of the boat, we went out to dinner and talked about the similarities between David and I... quite amazing how many there are given that we were not raised together (David and I share the same biological father, but different mothers).  We enjoyed learning more about David's chiropractic business, and we enjoyed sharing more details about our trip with them.  KJ quickly built an affinity for Nancy, while Dy was connected with David.  We are so glad they made the drive out to see us.

First Night

After a 6 hour drive, we arrived at Sail Harbor Marina at 4pm and boarded Ariel for the first time as full time residents.

We all wanted to celebrate, alas everyone was so tired after the weeks of pushing so hard and the long drive today.  By 8:20pm, Val, KJ, and Dy were asleep.  Our celebration activity was a pizza from Papa Johns. I had an adult beverage to spice up my celebration a bit.

There is a lot in Aunt II's car still to unpack.  The car was so full, in fact, that Val had to sit on stuff for the whole ride.

It is very hard to believe we are now fulfilling our dream.  We spent years planning and saving to make this possible, and now it is really here. Like really, really real. Incredible. Surreal. It is like a dream state.  Maybe that is from the tequila.  Time to go to bed. :)

Support from work

The amount of support that I'm receiving from my company and co-workers, to make this trip, has been nothing short of astonishing. Even though my departure makes life hard for so many co-workers, I've received nothing but grace, love, and support.  This has come by way of emails, hugs, tears, gifts, and so much more.  IHG has even given the SailboatFamily the gift of a much needed SSB radio to stay in contact!

There is no way I can express my gratitude to every one and every thing IHG is. It is truly a great place to work.  If you are ever fortunate enough to join this remarkable company, you should.  If you are ever looking for lodging, consider our Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Indigo, Candlewood Suites, Staybridge Suites, Crowne Plaza, or Intercontinental brands, because the people behind them (from the hotel all the way down to the CEO) really care about people.

I love you IHG. Thank you for everything.  You truly do make great hotels guests love.

March March March March March

One week from today, we will be living on the boat full time. This is so hard to believe.  At work yesterday, when folks asked about the trip, my response was, "yep, next week we will begin our journey." My mind focuses on the "next week" part.   For years we've been planning this trip and right now we are in the transition from dreaming into doing.  This transition is surreal.

Last night the TV was sold to a nice, and very talkative, guy in our apartment complex, and the second couch (known as the ugly old couch) found a new home.  We have 2 beds left, and we are using KJ's in the living room as a make shift couch.  These final items, along with the wii, will probably be gone in the next couple of days.