NautiNell

NautiNell
NautiNell in all her glory

Thursday, August 27, 2015

August in Brunswick GA - Waiting for cooler days!

Beautiful streets of historic Brunswick
It almost looks like it's raining..
I love the Spanish Moss
 
Shrimp boats - off duty
"The Marshes of Glynn"
Nesting Habitat -
(we're not allowed on the island)
Indigo Coastal Shanty
funny name - fun place!
Beautiful sunset
Kinda' looks like a ship in the sky!
Storm brewing!
Lovers Oak
Absolutely amazing!
Shrimp boats!
One of the beautiful Georgia sunsets
Mary Ross Waterfront Park
where the Farmer's Market is held

Another picture of the Lovers Oak
One of the historic homes in the area
Very cool clock on Main Street
and it works!!
Grand ol' sign
Ritz Theater in the historic district
We're trying them all but haven't found one better!
Great little stop for lunch!
One of our runs to Lowe's.
New cushions for the sundeck!
Dinner at Fox's Pizza!
Fox's has been here a long time.
Very cool inside!
One of the typical streets here in the
Brunswick Historic District
Courthouse
For whom the bell tolls....
Another gorgeous sky tonight!
It was actually raining too!
Had to take this through the isinglass
 
A beautiful sky
on our way home from dinner
Tipsy's has quite a history
Very neat place and very friendly staff
Beach on Jekyll Island
Some of the "resorts" on Jekyll Island
Sunset from Jekyll Island
The last time I posted we were in Fernandina Beach and getting ready to head to Brunswick Landing Marina.  Well, here we are still in Brunswick Ga.  We left the marina in Fernandina Beach on Monday, August 10 about 10:00 a.m.  We didn’t get in a hurry because it was a fairly short trip.  Only 36 miles.  However, our GPS/Plotter was really messed up.  It kept taking us out the Inlet and across the Atlantic on over to Guam!  It would read Brunswick and show it as our destination but when you hit “go” – off it would go 5000+ miles across the ocean!  We think it may be messed up due to the Navy being here so close.  Perhaps, it’s scrambled or something.  Everything else worked so we could follow the ICW but no magenta line or timetable.  Oh well!

We saw several shrimp boats along the way – this area is known for its shrimp.  They call it “Wild Georgia Shrimp”.  According to the locals, there’s nothing else like it.  We’ll see!  If it’s what we had in Fernandina Beach, they’re right!  Yum!

We made it to the marina about 2:00 p.m.  We planned to be here awhile so we unloaded the scooters at the fuel dock.  Fuel is only $2.17 a gallon!  We’ll keep our eyes on the price and will definitely fill up before we leave.  We then spent the next two hours getting our power on.  The one pedestal that was ours, didn’t have a 50 amp so we had to dig out our 30 amp cords that we hadn’t used in years.  We finally got it working and settled in with the air conditioners on!  Just in time for Happy Hour!  This marina has free wine three times a week and free beer on Saturday!  They even have free laundry!  I think we’re going to like it here!  We went over to the HH get together and saw lots of familiar faces - several we’ve met along our adventure.  What fun!  Oh and our slip is right next to Floating Stone.  Bob and Katie keep their boat here for the summer while they’re home in Ohio.  They spend the winter in Marathon where we do.  We’ve spent the last few winters with them! 

The next day we spent the day cleaning the boat.  Yes, NautiNell is on the market!  We don’t really know what we’re going to do next.  The average listing is a year or so.  We plan to continue to cruise on her while she’s for sale.  Anyway, they’re showing her on Saturday so we’re spiffing her up some!  AND Mike called Garmin and cleared out the problem with our plotter!  That was a relief!

We’ve taken scooter rides around town.  We found out through a boater here though that you have to wear helmets in Georgia even when riding the 49cc scooters.  That’s a first!  So you know where our helmets are?  Well, they’re not on the boat!  They’re in the trunk of the silver bullet back in Ft Pierce.  The marina here loans out bikes to fellow boaters.  So they had some helmets that that they gave us to use.  They may be bicycle helmets but they don’t look like it.  Anyway, our heads are now legal…..

Richard and Jill (Finally) came over to give us a tour of the area.  They live in Waycross GA about an hour away and keep their boat in Jekyll Island.  Jekyll Island is only about 5 miles away by car.  They are another couple that we’ve become friends with during our stay in Marathon.  They picked us up and gave us the grand tour of Jekyll Island.  There is a lot of history on Jekyll.  Years ago, it was quite the place to be.  Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Cranes and Kennedys are among some of the ones that visited the Island.  There were several mansions built there long ago.  Most are now used as resorts.  Now it is owned by the State of Georgia and is completely maintained by the State.  It’s very scenic and very peaceful.  We saw several deer.  They’re small but not as small as the Key Deer in the Keys.  We all went to dinner at the Driftwood Bistro there on the Island where I had some of the best shrimp ‘n grits, ever!  Ron and Martha also met us there.  They have a boat – (Well Balanced) a few slips down from Finally.  It was a fun time!  It was so good to visit with Richard and Jill.  They’re coming back over here Labor Day weekend.  I think Bob and Katie will be here also.  The marina is having a Low Country Boil on Labor Day.  Sounds like a good time! 

We’ve hit the Farmers Market, and a few of the restaurants here.  There was also a potluck dinner in the boaters lounge one evening.  We went to the Indigo Coastal Shanty for dinner (which we loved!) last Saturday night to celebrate NOT selling the boat!  They showed her but the couple didn’t like the layout.  What’s not to like??  We weren’t quite ready to deal with an offer yet, anyway.  It will happen when it’s supposed to. 

The marina here is in the Old Historic Downtown area.  The area is pretty cool but there isn’t a whole lot around here.  It’s a good thing we have scooters.  We rode them over to the mall area one afternoon.  That’s the day we went to “Willie’s Wee Nee Wagon” for lunch.  What fun!  We stopped at Lowes for a few things that Mike needed.  Yeah, we hauled everything back on the scooters including new cushions for the sundeck chairs.  I love the guy that invented bungee cords! 

It’s been so hot here – 100 degrees heat index the last few days.  We are really glad we’re not traveling. J  We did decide to finally go “dinkin” around the area and check it out this past Sunday.  Jill and Richard had given us a heads up on a restaurant that is on the water – Marshside Grill and Bar.  It wasn’t very far in the dinghy and we had a great lunch!  Fresh wild Georgia shrimp!  We rode around the canals doing our typical exploring.  The marshes here are really pretty but that’s pretty much all that is here.  We did go on out a canal and found ourselves in the ICW just across from the St Simons Inlet.  If it had been a little calmer, we might have tried to cross over there.   We decided it was starting to cloud up so we headed back before the routine afternoon rains got here.  Just made it by an hour or so.

One evening we rode the scooters to town and had dinner at Fox’s Pizza.  A very neat little place and the food was really good!  We had pasta this time.  We’ll try their pizza next time.  It had cooled down some so we rode the scooters around town.  We wanted to check out the Lover’s Oak Tree here in the Brunswick Historic District.  This gigantic oak tree named Lover’s Oak is said to date back to the 12th century.  According to local legend, Indian braves and their maidens met under this majestic tree.  The tree is estimated to be over 900 years old and its trunk measures 11 feet in diameter!  It branches into ten limbs which measure from 10 to 30 inches in diameter!  Very cool to think how much history this tree has lived through.

Another evening we rode to a local hangout called Tipsy McSway's.  They were having trivia night.  It was fun although we didn't do very well.  Oh well, the food was good! 

We still plan to stay here until after Labor Day while we wait for it to cool down some.   Can't miss that Low Country Boil!  Then we’ll head on north toward Norfolk.  Who knows when we’ll get there! Just as long as we do it before it gets cold!!

Stay tuned!

Admiral “C”

 

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Ft Pierce to Fernandina Beach

Music on Center Street
Street Party!
Courthouse -- beautiful
Shrimp boat coming in
Mosquito plane!  Lookout!
Arrgh!!
Sunset on anchor!
After the sunset - left with a beautiful sky
This guy buzzed us along the waterway!
This is the barge that caused us stress!
Coming up on his port!
St Augustine lighthouse
Pirate boats shooting it out
in St Augustine!
Beautiful night
Fresh shrimp tonight!
This marks our voyage into "new waters"!
Interesting guy with quite a collection of boats......
Green Turtle - Fernandina Beach
Old Fort on Amelia Island
Wild horses on Cumberland Island
Beautiful Cumberland Island
too bad it was so hot!
View of the waterway from Cumberland Island
This guy was getting pretty close to shore!
Lots of beautiful architecture in
Fernandina Beach
Another beautiful sky!
Interesting information
Railroad Station
Love this place!
Part of downtown Fernandina
More homes
NautiNell tied up tight
She's getting quite a mustache!
Tie up for a nuclear submarine!
Lonesome guy on Cumberland Island
He actually walked out to the water -
see he's hot too!
 August 4 – Tuesday   After spending a couple of months in Ft Pierce, we finally had decent weather and had finished our “chores” so we cast our lines and headed north.  Yea!  That is “after” we fueled up – pumped out and loaded the scooters.  We were on the waterway by 10:00 a.m.  We had planned to go about 50 miles to Dragon point but we decided to pass that by and we went 62 miles to another great anchorage – Honeymoon Lake.   Mm 904.  “Fairyland”.  That is what it says on the charts!  Honeymoon Lake in Fairyland!  We made it there by 5:30 p.m. and was on the hook in no time.  A full day for us!  Along the way we started seeing lots of dolphins and manatees.  One of the guidebooks referred to the manatees as “Nature’s Couch Potatoes”.  I like that!  It really fits these gentle creatures.  We also saw a spinner shark.   He spun up right in front of the boat! If you haven’t seen one or aren’t familiar with them – definitely Google them.  There are several you-tube videos.  They are very cool!  This one looked to be about 6-7 feet long.  We won’t be having any mosquitoes on our boat either, I hope.  We were buzzed several time by the mosquito plane.  I think he was just trying to entertain us.  Another area we traversed through had hundreds of huge jellyfish.  This was an interesting day!  We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and had dinner on the sundeck.  It’s nice to be traveling again. 

August 5 – Wednesday   We left the anchorage about 9:00 a.m.  It was a great anchorage but now we remember why we don’t usually travel in August.  It was so hot!  We don’t run our a/c at night so all we have to rely on are several fans.  Believe me, it takes quite a “fan club” to make it through a hot August night….!  The water was like glass today – sunny and no wind.  Hmmm, no wind = no breeze tonight.  Again we saw several sharks, jellyfish and sting rays!  Very cool!  Anyway we made it to Rockhouse Creek near New Smyrna by 4:15 = 62 miles.  We were the only ones anchoring here all night.  That’s the thing about traveling in August – you don’t see many other boats either.   We’ve been here before in May when we had a hard time finding a spot to drop anchor!

August 6 – Thursday   We left out about 8:00 a.m. this morning.  At least it wasn’t quite so hot last night.  We headed to St Augustine – about 64 miles.  We made it there – I fought with the mooring ball a bit but we were secure by 4:30.  It took us a little longer to get here because of all the slow manatee zones.  We did have an interesting experience though. There was an area where the tide was really low so it was a really narrow pass.  It was just before Matanzas Inlet where it shoals really badly.   We were doing fine until we came up on a tow with a huge barge.  Of course, we needed to pass him and that shouldn’t have been a problem.  We tried him on the radio but no response.  So we were doing pretty good  - but then we found ourselves meeting an oncoming sailboat (on motor).  This area was really tight but we couldn’t get over until we were way pass the barge  - and the sailboat wouldn’t slow down.  He passed us way too closely and way too fast!  He also told Mike he was “number one” so Mike gave him the BIG HORN!   J   There wasn’t anything we could have done.  He should have slowed down so we wouldn’t have met each other along with the barge!  Oh well….!  

Mike wasn’t feeling well tonight so we just relaxed on the boat.  We’ve been to St Augustine before and really enjoyed it but we can pass this time.  BTW  Did I mention it was hot!

August 7 – Friday  We left out about 8:30 this morning.  We are going to a marina in Fernandina Beach!  Three nights – it’s time for some air conditioning!  Another 63 miles – but we’ll make it!  It turned out to be a great day to travel – it wasn’t so hot.  We did have to weather out a storm just as we got to a large opening just a few miles from the marina.  The Coast Guard was forecasting 33 knot winds.  It was that or more!  And it rained!  Luckily it didn’t really last too long – just enough to get our blood pressure up.  We made it to the marina by 4:00.  We are now in “Virgin Territory” – at least for us!  As of Sister Creek (mm739) which is at Jacksonville Beach we entered into uncharted waters.  It’s the start of another adventure!  Once we were tied up and secure we decided to enjoy the night!  Four days of traveling and anchoring we were ready for a stop.  It was nice to get off the boat!  We plan to stay here the weekend.  We hit the town and found there was a “Concert on Center Street”  -  live music street party.  We also hit the Palace Saloon (pirate punch), Dog Star Saloon and the Salty Pelican.  We had dinner at the latter and enjoyed visiting with a nice young couple who were locals.  They told us about the Green Turtle which has good music.  We’ll make it there tomorrow. 

August 8 – Saturday   Checked out more of the town.  We walked to the Happy Tomato for lunch.  It isn’t what it sounds like – it’s a bbq place!  Really good too!  There is a fishing tournament going on so it’s really crowded here.  Someone checked in a 6 ft. kingfish – not sure of its weight.    I went shopping for a while.  There are several really fun shops in the downtown “historic” area.  Later we took a scooter ride to check out the rest of the area.  We did go to the Green Turtle but were disappointed because the band canceled.  It’s a neat place but we had a couple of beers and left.  Went back to the boat and relaxed. 

August 9 – Sunday   We dinked all day!  We packed a picnic lunch and off we went.  First we rode out to the Inlet – the ocean looked pretty calm.  Beautiful beaches!  Then we went back around to Cumberland Island only a few miles away but we did cross in to Georgia.  We hiked around the Island – it is really beautiful.  We saw several of the wild horses.  It would have been fun to stay longer but again it was really hot.  We dinked around some more and saw a huge alligator sticking his head out of the water not far from shore.  We went around to the other side where we stopped and had our lunch.  What a nice day!  The sun was shining with hardly a cloud in the sky. 

Tomorrow we’re leaving here and heading to Brunswick Landing in Brunswick GA.  It’s only about 36 miles away.  Short trip but a good stop, we hear. 

Till next time!

Admiral “C”