New Friends and a Floridian Solstice

We came to Jacksonville looking for an affordable marina where we could install an arch and solar panels, as well as perform some other routine maintenance on the boat. A trip to Disney was also part of the plan while in Jacksonville. The right marina wasn't difficult to find, the trip to Disney was a blast, and the projects got underway as soon as the right materials were delivered. What we didn't imagine or plan for was the number of friends we would make.

The Ortega Yacht Club Marina proved to be a great community. We were especially fortunate to meet and befriend Dena, Shari, Myron, Fred, and Paul. This great group of people not only gave us a warm social context for the last 6 weeks, but also helped quite a bit with the most complex project we've done on the boat.

The arch was delivered as a collection of aluminum tubes shaped and cut to roughly fit. It didn't take much effort to assemble it and park it in its planned position. Enter the Devil to take care of the details and make the experience interesting... the job took 6 days.

The captain hanging from the newly-installed arch. Those bolts can take a lot tension!

Then came the solar panels. Myron answered a few questions that helped me understand the electrical connections between panels, charge controller, and batteries; the connections themselves were easy. I'd always known the more complex part of the project would be to mount the modules on the arch.

Lucky me, I had 3 experienced engineers watching over my shoulder. Fred, Myron, and Paul were constantly ready to answer questions and lend a hand. One afternoon, when the design I had in my head didn't quite agree with the real measurements I was taking, Paul came around shrouded in a halo of kindness. He offered to drive me to his place and help me drill a few holes using his drill press. That made the job of bolting panels, mounts, and arch much easier.

Natalia unpacking the 2 solar panels. 270 Watts each!

Ernesto (left, squatting) working under Myron's (centre) and Fred's supervision.

Lining up the mounting structure on the arch.

Hurry up! The Sun is blasting those panels and their cables remain unconnected; wasted amps...

One morning Paul, who is the marina's resident diver, was cleaning the bottom of a 17-foot sailboat. Peter, the boat's owner, was standing on the dock while Paul worked. I happened to walk by on my way to I-don't-remember-where-so-it-must-have-been-of-utmost-importance, when Peter started the typical boater conversation. Much like parents in a playground, boaters stand around on the docks and talk about their babies. Within minutes, Peter had offered to drive us around if we needed supplies, and invited us to a meal in his place.

Peter's casual invitation turned out to be a full day affair. He picked us up at the dock in his power boat, whence we went to his house on the Ortega River. Peter's wife, Laura, and his son, Zac, were equally welcoming and interesting. After a few burgers and some excellent Casillero del Diablo cabernet sauvignon, we piled up on Peter's power boat again, this time to go tubing. Fun, fun, fun.

Tubing in the Ortega River.

Matias at the helm on Peter's boat.

The winter solstice is now past. The solar panels are quietly and tirelessly producing most of the electricity we consume. We are thankful to Ra for exciting the electrons in just the right manner. And we are thankful to our new friends for their company, their kindness, their humanity.

Three-Week Medley

Offshore Hop

The overnight passage we did from Charleston to Cumberland Island was nothing less than glorious. We left Charleston harbor in the dark and hove-to for a couple of hours a few miles from the Saint Mary's inlet to wait for slack water before heading in. Managing a boat at sea is a life-long dream of mine, and this first experience, small and simple as it was, just made me want to spend more time at sea.

We saw dolphins! Many of them! They came to play in our bow wave, swimming back and forth and showing us their wise smiles.

Dolphins approaching Taia's starboard bow

Before dawn, and after leaving Charleston harbor behind, everything was mostly dark. There was some glimmer from the moon filtering through the cloud cover. The sun showed up and with it the water around us changed color from almost black to an enticing greenish blue. The kind of color that makes you want to dive right in.

Atlantic Ocean, 20 miles east of Georgia

During the day life aboard went on uneventful. The grown-ups spent most of their time in the cockpit, tending to the boat, contemplating, talking. The kids watched a couple of movies and roamed around the boat. Whenever dolphins came (and we had several different pods that came to visit) everyone took turns to go up to the bow, where it almost seemed like we could extend our arms and touch them.

The weather forecast called for 20-knot winds starting at midnight, so we tucked in 2 reefs in the main right before sundown. The 20 knots of wind never materialized and we had no more than 8 knots throughout the night. Natalia and I did 3-hour watches.

The main stayed up constantly to counter the swell-induced roll. We didn't see much wind at all, so we motored most of the way. This was our first offshore hop and we wanted to keep it short and simple; floating around like a cork in the swell was outside mission parameters this time.

The sun setting somewhere beyond Georgia

We entered Saint Mary's inlet, the border between Georgia and Florida, 30 hours after weighing anchor in Charleston harbor, and anchored in front of Cumberland Island, Georgia.

It was a great first experience at sea in the dark, one that we will always remember.

Cumberland Island

After squaring the boat away we piled up in the dinghy and rowed ashore, to Cumberland Island and the national park occupying it. The beach on the ocean side seemed like a graveyard for horseshoe skates. There were hundreds of carcasses strewn around in the sand!

The island is famous for its wild horses, and we were lucky enough to spot a glimpse of one.

Trail to the ocean side

Scruffy captain looking full of himself

Cumberland Island wild life

Jacksonville

We knew the weather was expected to deteriorate significantly 2 days after we anchored in Cumberland Island. A cold front was going to bring freezing temperatures and 30- to 40-knot northerly winds. The anchorage in Cumberland Island is well exposed to the north, so we had to move on. Fernandina Beach is right across the river from Cumberland, but we wanted to keep moving south and cover more distance.

After looking at our options, we decided to take advantage of the last day of fair weather and the fact that we were anchored right next to an inlet that is easy to navigate. We decided to do another offshore hop, from Saint Mary's inlet to Saint Johns inlet, in Jacksonville. After a relaxed day at the beach on Cumberland, we went back aboard and got the boat ready to go to sea early the next morning.

It was an easy 9 hours from Cumberland Island to downtown Jacksonville, 6 of those hours at sea, the rest of them motoring up the Saint Johns river.

There's a city-run marina in downtown Jacksonville that is free for up to 3 days. We took good advantage of this unheard-of privilege and shared the 50-slip marina with 1 other boat. Yes, it's free and it was deserted. Very strange.

The cold front came. It was cold. It was windy, angry windy. But we were safely tied up to a sturdy concrete floating dock.

While there, we met Beth and Carmine. Beth is my cousin Ceci's sister-in-law. Carmine is Beth's husband. Excellent people. We had them over for dinner aboard and the next night they took us out to a great restaurant. We're still in Jacksonville and will be seeing them again for sure.

Cold front in Jacksonville

Disney and Kennedy Space Center

While in Jacksonville we took a 5-day road trip to Disney and the Kennedy Space Center. It was lots of fun for everyone.

What's next?

Jacksonville has been home for almost 3 weeks now. We've ordered an aluminum arch and 540 watts' worth of solar panels to attach to the arch. Having these will allow us to spend more time at anchor and use the diesel generator less, maybe not use it at all. As soon as we're done with this project we'll head south again. The Bahamas beckon...