In Georgia

Now we're in Georgia, finally. Jekyll Island, to be precise.

It has taken us the five days on the move that we calculated
would be required to make it here. What we couldn't forecast
was the weather, and neither could the weathermen, as it turned
out.

First, let us offer our thanks to the many folk who responded
to our last email with their personal floater stories. All were
different and all had good outcomes and gave us a good range
of things for Jack to be looking out for. Meanwhile, the problem
seems to be resolving and J hopes to be able to see our own eye
doctor when we make it to Slip 19 in the Chesapeake.

We got the air conditioning system fixed in Ft. Pierce. We figured
it would be handy to have as we went up the ICW and spring brought
warmer temps. And it was handy, because of the reverse cycle
feature that makes our AC a heater. We needed the heat. Only
here in Georgia have we used it for a few hours as a proper air
conditioner.

The strong northerlies that we experienced in the Bahamas continue.
(Oh, we know, it's worse up north and it snowed on Easter in
DC.)

The delay in getting the pump fixed meant we had time to rendezvous
with friends from Massachusetts, so that was a very good stop,
even if it cost a week.

Since we have finally been able to get rid of most of the traces
of Dominican and Bahamian fuel, we have found our consumption
of Racor filters drastically reduced. We have now motored 25
hours on the same Racor and see no signs of the needle moving
into the red or yellow. (Which would indicate a clogged filter
stopping the flow of fuel to the injectors.)

We are a little afraid to trumpet this to the heavens, since
to do so courts disaster, but we do think it is a credit to the
pure fuel we've been able to get in the US.

Since leaving the Indian River near Titusville the water has
been getting progressively shallower and the tides and currents
more complicated. We remember this from the last time we were
here, 2002, but don't like it any better.

When we came through this way in 2002, J had made up little yellow
cards that choreographed each turn on the ICW from the chart
book, so we kept the cards on hand and it seemed to go quite
easily. Now we have two chartplotters and the chart book and
it still seems quite perilous. We wish would could find those
little yellow cards. In Georgia there are 7'-9' tides, and currents
that can knock 3 knots on or off one's speed, so it can be a
little like playing Chutes and Ladders.

We made it to Jekyll Island in a mere five hours but decided—since
the tides would be going to possibly a foot lower than mean low—that
we could just wait until the next morning at seven to move on
to Brunswick when the tide would still be highish.

Our route planning is for us to spend 22 days on the move to
go from Jekyll to Slip 19, but who knows what the weather will
allow.

We also hope to spend some time smelling the roses, of course.
Besides our friends from MA, we reencountered the folks who
told us about the fabulous pilot to Croatia in Vero Beach. We
met the people who ran the Mednet for the five years that we
were in Europe. We've done a bit of touring in St. Augustine
and we are looking forward to being in Charlestown and Beaufort
again. We're pretty sure this is our last trip on the ICW (there
are easier ways to be warm in winter) so we are hoping to enjoy
it.

Note: woke up on our scheduled departure day from Jekyll to dense
fog. By the time it had cleared we had lost the tide. Our daughter
sent us a word of bad weather they had seen coming in, and since
we have good wifi here we could see it too. I guess we'll see
a little more of Jekyll for a few days. We have not dealt with
tides in any big way for over nine years. Perhaps we are being
a little oversensitive, but the number of boats seen aground
suggests not.

Scott, the amiable and energetic dockmaster at the marina, turns
out to have roots in Taylor County (GA), just as Jack does.
The Taylor County Diaspora is one of the wonders of modern America.

The Jeckyl Harbor Marina seems to be one of those places where
people come and just stay and tonight there was a potluck for
the semipermanent residents and transients. It is tempting to
linger, but we have 700 miles to go.