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Brunswick, Georgia

Brunswick has an active waterfront that is home to one of the largest shrimp boat fleets on the east coast and is frequented by ginormous (sic) container ships. The city is similar to Lewiston, Idaho in size and smell. Koch Cellulose operates a large pulp mill in the area that provides an aroma that is only rivaled by the daily low tide. While Brunswick is not a large city, is does offer convenient shopping for most of the items we need for our projects. We tend to frequent Home Depot, Wal-Mart, West Marine, and Boaters World along with the various specialty metal shops to locate items for our projects. The Colonial Mall offers some other typical Mall shops as well as a movie theater that we’ve gone to a couple of times. There are no Albertson’s in Brunswick, so we do our grocery shopping at Publix or Winn-Dixie. They even carry “Idaho Potatoes”!

Slow down, you move too fast…. You got make the morning last…
After sailing over 1000 miles in the initial 6 weeks of our adventure, we’ve certainly slowed our traveling pace since arriving in Brunswick, Georgia at the end of August. And that’s not just because we’re fitting in with the southern style, even though that happens to be our roots. My (Lisa’s) great grandmother was from the neighboring state of Tennessee. Her name was Sidney Lier Bolton, being named after a famous poet of the 19th century, Sydney Lanier, who was from Macon, Georgia. One of his most famous pieces of work, “The Marshes of Glynn”, was written here in Brunswick (Glynn County). We sailed under the massive Sidney Lanier bridge on our way in to Brunswick! I had no idea I was arriving in a place that had such a connection to one of my ancestors!

When we first arrived in Brunswick, we intended on sitting tight for a week or so while Hurricane Ophelia determined her path. As that initial week passed and we used that time for some exploration of the area and for making extensive lists of what we wanted to do to get the boat ready for the winter in the Bahamas, we made the decision to not continue north any further and to wait out the remainder of the very active hurricane season in this relatively safe harbor. This non-travel period would allow us the necessary time to check off the items from our growing list of projects.

Since this lengthy log entry captures a variety of activities and projects since arriving in Brunswick, it is divided into sections for easier perusal.

We just want to let everyone know that we are still safe and hunkered down in a marina in Brunswick, Georgia, where we plan to remain until the weather begins to moderate. Tropical storm Ophelia is stalled off the East coast of Central Florida and predicted to move slowly North or Northwest before turning back out to sea. We are keeping a close watch. Other active hurricanes in the Atlantic, Nate and Maria, pose no threat to us.

After returning from Savannah we did something that Rod had never experienced before. We rode a Greyhound bus. Hey, we’re all about having new experiences on this adventure! We had ordered solar panels for the boat and had arranged for them to be sent to Chris and Susan’s house, since we weren’t sure where we were going to be. We needed to pick them up and retrieve the Trooper from their house so we could have transportation while being temporary residents of Brunswick, Georgia. Which, by the way, when we rented the car for the Savannah trip we discovered Brunswick to be considerably larger than the struggling historic downtown district that we had access to on foot! The Greyhound bus trip was uneventful but there are very interesting folks that seem to hang out at bus stations. Thanks to Chris, we didn’t have to linger with the crack dealers at the Orlando station very long before he was there to pick us up. We spent a couple of days visiting with them and then drove the Trooper back to Brunswick.

Four days after arriving in Brunswick, we took a road trip via a rental car to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary on August 31 in Savannah, Georgia. What an incredible city! Rich with history, amazing architecture, and tasty southern cuisine – we sampled it all. We stayed in the oldest hotel in the city, The Marshall House , which has been a hotel since 1851. Fortunately, they have updated it with modern day conveniences, but it still maintains its 19th century charm – squeaky wood floors, fireplaces in every room, ghosts, etc. We toured the historical district and learned interesting facts and lore from our trolley tour guide about the beautiful homes and squares around which the city was designed. We then explored the riverfront and downtown shopping district on our own, over-eating at “The Lady and Sons” restaurant which showcases typical southern cuisine from chef Paula Deen of the Food Network. From Savannah we took a short side trip to neighboring Tybee Island and a tour of Fort Pulaski for our requisite military history lesson of the area.

Whew! We’re out of the path of Katrina! Thanks for the phone calls and e-mails encouraging us to get our website updated on our whereabouts!

After spending two full weeks in Ft. Lauderdale, we left on Tuesday, August 16th. While there we enjoyed the sites – taking advantage of “Free Summer Admission” at the Art Museum, scouting out all the Happy Hour half price appetizer deals, and discovering Max’s Grill on the riverfront in downtown where everything on the menu is $6.99! The menu included filet mignon (which was delicious all 4 times we ordered it), and fresh grilled seafood! We traveled around the area by Water Bus and city bus (very interesting depending on the time of day) and by the end of our stay we knew our way around pretty well. Chris and Susan and Park came for a weekend visit and we set a personal record on the number of marine stores we went to over a 24 hour period of time!

While in Lauderdale Rod replaced the Air Conditioning water pump and a refrigerator guy replaced a broken part on the fridge. We also got the fuel system problem fixed – it did turn out to be a simple problem with the fuel filter. So everything is in good working order now. In a previous update I referred to our genoa sail as Jenny, and I have to give credit to Sonya Kern for coming up with the clever name we now use to refer to our engine… Forest. “Run, Forest, Run!”, we called out frequently as we left the Port Everglades channel departing Ft. Lauderdale to head further north.

We arrived at Harbortown Marina in Cape Canaveral on Friday, August 19th. This is the marina where Chris and Susan keep their sailboat and we were looking forward to the planned day of fishing on their boat that Saturday. We didn’t catch much, but they did reel in a small barracuda! We kept it since our fish book indicated that the small ones were good to eat, but then a gentleman at the marina gave a different review. So rather than being our dinner it was to be fish bait.

After leaving Canaveral on Sunday, August 21st we continued north on the ICW. We anchored in a really cool area, aptly named Mosquito Lagoon. We then enjoyed one night in St. Augustine – we definitely want to go back there! It is the oldest continuously occupied city in the continental United States, so it has a rich history. The following night we spent in Old Town of Fenandina Beach, which as first glance looked, and smelled, very industrial. But it was an interesting place! Very similar history to St. Augustine and we enjoyed strolling it’s quaint historic streets.

We arrived here in Brunswick, Georgia last night (Thursday, August 25th). We felt the effects of the storm bands from Katrina yesterday afternoon as we sailed in very wet and windy conditions. We decided with the storms in the area that we would tie up at a safe marina, which is where we are now – the Brunswick Landing Marina. We think that we will be here at least a week, as the weather forecast is for continued storms for the next 5 days. The marina is right in the heart of their revitalized downtown historic district, so we look forward to doing some exploring here.

In the next day or so we’ll work on getting some pictures on the website, but right now my minutes are ticking down on this connection at the public library. Stay tuned…

Just like the Americas Cup racers. That’s how we arrived here in Ft. Lauderdale…

We waved goodbye to the beautiful Keys last week, but not until enjoying a couple more anchorages after Boot Key. At Shell Key we tried our luck with the two-day Keys lobster mini season, but lobster was not to be on our menu. Rod did find a lobster laden trap that had lost it’s float. But since it’s clearly stated in the fishing regulations that it is a felony to take from a trap, we decided we could resist the temptation. We then spent two additional nights anchored at Elliott Key, swimming and snorkeling in the amazing water. We also thanked Zeus, Poseidon, and Neptune for protecting “Palachar” as we pulled that name off, and then asked for continued protection as we put the new letters of “Lucky Peek – Boise, ID” on the stern. It looks great!

We had thought we would stay at Elliott Key through that last weekend of July and arrive in Miami on Monday to avoid the additional weekend boat traffic. But the winds were in our favor to leave on Saturday. We sailed to Key Biscayne and anchored under sail in an anchorage in front of a house once owned by President Nixon that had a beautiful view of Miami across the bay. It was not by choice that we anchored under sail power – we do prefer to use the engine for maneuvering around other boats and then setting our anchor, but since our engine died and wouldn’t start we didn’t really have a choice. This was actually a repeat of how we had to anchor at Elliott Key. Houston, we have a problem. Rod had changed the primary fuel filter at Elliott Key, which seemed to fix the problem. Now he would change the secondary filter. Success! The engine started and ran just fine. We left Key Biscayne the following morning to sail “outside” (on the Atlantic, not the Intracoastal Waterway) to Ft. Lauderdale. We were relieved when the engine started easily that morning to help us out of the anchorage and then out the channel to the Atlantic. The winds were 10-15 knots and from the east, so we were in for a great sail north. We made good time during the first 4 hours, getting the boat sailing over 6 knots! Woo-hoo!!! The winds did drop off and shifted to the southeast which slowed our progress, but we still made it to the Port Everglades entrance channel to Ft. Lauderdale by 3:30pm. The seas were rocky from the wind and the boat traffic in the channel, but the engine started right up and we dropped the sails with confidence. That confidence lasted about 15 minutes. Then right as we are in between the break walls of the channel, our engine died. Hmmm… Not good. As in true sailor form, we shouted some choice expletives. I then used the momentum we still had to turn us into the wind so Rod could raise the main sail and unfurl the 150% genoa sail (whom we fondly refer to as “Jenny”). With the rocking waves and by now our slowed momentum, we were having difficulty getting the boat moving in the desired direction – back out to safer water. Of course, we had an audience of fisherman on the shore and onlookers from the charter fishing boats coming in around us. Then we got a personalized visit from the boys of the Coast Guard who must have been monitoring the channel from their small run-about boat. They came up alongside us and asked if everything was all right. Hmmmm… is everything all right? The answer to that was “No. Everything is not all right.” They were very, very nice and stayed at our side while we hailed the Boat US tow guys on VHF. Within just minutes the tow guys were at our side. We got the sails down, and the tow lines hooked up. Thus, our arrival in Ft. Lauderdale was just like the America’s Cup racers! They always get towed in! The only thing missing from our arrival were the cheering crowds welcoming us with sprays of champagne. Oh well. We were towed into the Bahia Mar marina, which is where we are now making arrangements for a mechanic to find the pesky air leak in our fuel system that’s causing the problem.

I should mention that the channels of Ft. Lauderdale are lined with multi-million dollar homes with mega-yachts parked out front. Their dinghies would surely cost more than our boat. We’re feeling a bit out of place here, but hey, our egos can take it. For a few days anyway. In the mean time, we are going to enjoy the local sites and rub elbows with the rich and corrupt.

Lisa

Thank you so much for sending us email and your words of encouragement! It’s been great hearing from you and getting local update. Keep ’em coming! You have no idea how fun it is to hear from you! Sorry we can’t always respond quickly! We miss everyone!

We have been in the middle Keys on Boot Key since Saturday, July 23. We left Key West on Thursday, July 21 with the winds on our nose. We opted to motor into the wind rather than tack back and forth making little headway, but about 5 hours out of Key West, our engine over heated. Turn engine off, put sails up. Rod determined that the problem was an air bubble had been sucked into the raw water cooling system for the engine, causing not enough water to get to the engine to cool it. Hmmmm… what to do…. It was a bit too rough for him to crawl into the engine compartment and try to fix this while we were underway, so we opted to turn back to Key West. It was a very pleasant downwind sail back and we were able to make it back in about 3.5 hours in the ~15 knot winds on our back. I guess Key West just wasn’t ready for us to leave. We were going to attempt to anchor near the boneyard (see update below), which was a bit unnerving, but after we dropped our hook we were quickly visited by an anchored neighbor. A very nice Frenchman named Chris (Chreese) warned us that the holding in that area was not good at all. I replied that based on the boats on the beach that’s what we suspected. He graciously offered us one of his moorings for the night. He assured us that it would hold because he had put it there himself – about 275 pounds of anchor attached to about 600 pounds of steel from the nearby wreck on the bottom. With a wave and a French accented “You will rest well tonight”, he zoomed away in his dinghy back to his 60+ foot ketch moored behind us. We did rest very well that night and were able to get an early start the next morning when we determined that the engine running just a bit more was able to suck the air bubble through the system, so we didn’t need to burp it out after all.

Friday, July 20 we anchored at Bahia Honda State park, which was great because it was really our first short day on the water. We arrived there around 2pm and just hung out for the afternoon. Ahhhh… Saturday we arrived here in Marathon with a list of things to check on and fix. As I write this, Rod is doing the happy dance because he just discovered what has been causing us to be taking on water (which he has now fixed), and he fixed the refrigeration! Yay!!!! I helped him by holding a flashlight and confirming which hoses moved when he wiggled the other ends. Oh, I also pointed fans at him so he wouldn’t suffer heat exhaustion in the engine compartment. I play a very important role in maintaining these systems.

Weather report indicates westerly winds which are odd for this time of year here, but great for us. We plan to leave here tomorrow.

So far, life on a boat has been busy. We have been “live-aboards” for a little more than a month now and we continue to learn how the boat systems work and how to troubleshoot and fix the variety of things that have needed repaired. This shake-down period has been more difficult and time-consuming than I expected. We have experienced frustration and anxiety and then sheer joy and satisfaction from determining the solution to a problem. They say that the cruising lifestyle is just a way to work on your boat in exotic locations. So now we are looking forward to getting to more exotic locations to continue our work.

What have we needed to repair or just simply maintain thus far?
Outboard motor for dinghy needed throttle cable/handle repaired.
Dinghy wasn’t holding air and it needed a new oar lock.
Head was smelly – and not from us. Bought a rebuild kit.
Oil needed changed, but we needed a drain tool constructed to make it easier to get the old oil out. Mechanic in St. Pete helped us with that.
Boat was taking on a tremendous amount of water – where was that pesky leak? Thought it was condensation from the air conditioning unit. It was putting some water in the bilge, but not at the pace the automatic bilge was coming on to pump it out (bilge was coming on every 2.5 minutes!). Thought it was the water heater leaking. Nope. Thought it was the water pressure pump which was leaking a lot, but were very disappointed when replacing that pump didn’t fix the problem. Finally, traced a mystery hose and found the source. Then with a simple turn of a Y valve we were no longer sinking. Whew.
Water pressure pump went out – replaced.
Automatic bilge pump was working erratically, which is concerning when you’re taking on water. But just so you know, for our safety, we have three back-up bilge systems, including a manual one. No, not a bucket. So we weren’t really going to sink, at least not quickly.
Refrigeration went out twice. Simple problems that we fixed.
Air conditioning went out twice, then worked, and is now out again. Nothing that we’re wasting any time with right now because we can only use the a/c when were are plugged in at a marina, which will be infrequently.
Fuel filters needed replaced.

For the first 3 weeks of living aboard in Ruskin and St. Petersburg, our typical day was to get up, have a bowl of cereal, work on items that needed fixed, get really hot and sweaty, discover something else that needs fixed, make some phone calls to get replacement parts, get even more hot and sweaty, contribute to the economy by shopping at the local West Marine, listen to the weather forecast to see where the next hurricane is forming, have a cold beer and some dinner and watch the sunset from our cockpit.

For the last 2 weeks of living aboard since leaving St. Pete, our typical day starts with a bowl of cereal, listen to the weather report, determine if our charted course for the day is still on given the weather, fix sandwiches to be eaten in route, set sail, marvel at the beauty of the water, have fun sailing, take turns napping while under way if we feel like it, study the charts of our course, occasionally get visited by dolphins, arrive at destination if all goes well, get the boat ship-shape, go for a swim in the turquoise waters, have a cold beer and some dinner (we try to use the Magma BBQ on the stern of our boat as much as possible so we don’t heat up the cabin of our boat by using our stove) and watch the sunset from out cockpit. Sprinkled in some of those days has been the need to fix things while under way.

I am currently reading “A Salty Piece of Land” by Jimmy Buffett, which is such a perfect book to be reading on a boat, especially as we sailed through the Keys. Rod is currently reading the Perkins Diesel Engine Mechanics Guide. Two days ago on approach to Elliott Key our engine konked out after showing some signs that the fuel filter was in need of changing. We anchored in the bay under sail – impressing ourselves – and then Rod proceeded to change the filter. What a relief and giant sense of satisfaction when the engine started – yay! But short-lived relief, when yet again today we had to sail into our anchorage because the engine pooped out. Signs are that the secondary fuel filter needed changed as well. Rod is working on that as I write this, which is challenging to do while my fingers are crossed.

I naively romanticized that I would just get on the boat and sail off with my pareau and hair blowing perfectly in the island breeze. It hasn’t been quite that simple as it’s been intermixed with some boat maintenance and troubleshooting. I guess there has to be some price for this lifestyle.