We did make an offshore overnight hop from Charleston to Fernandina Beach. The weather forecast called for stronger winds, so we left with a reef in our main, but the winds were lighter, so took it out, an hour later had to start the motor, and two hours later where back with a reefed main, and sailing nicely for the remaining 20 hours of the trip. Averaged 6.7 knots - so were quite happy to have an uneventful nice offshore passage. Two other sailboats, a couple of 55' monohulls were within 5 miles of us for the entire trip, and the only other boats were the cluster of cargo ships outside of Savannah Georgia - waiting to load or unload.
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| Lots of stationary cargo ships on AIS that we sailed through. |
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| What the cargo ships look like at night. |
We sailed to Fernandina beach - and finally warmth. Still not hot during the day - but at least we don't need our electric heater all day - just a bit in the morning to take the chill off until the sun comes out.
We had a week to kill before heading further south, as we arranged to meet up with Deans cousin and husband the following Monday - so time to do some projects, and some relaxation as well.
First order was to get off the boat, and see the town, so a nice walk with lunch out was in order.
We did go to town, and it is a cute town. Had a nice lunch out, and wandered the streets.
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| Lots of pirates in Fernandina Beach |
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| Dean and this fellow had a nice conversation |
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| Very touristy stores in downtown Fernandina |
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| And more pirates |
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| Nice lunch out at local burger joint |
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| You know it is a touristy place when you see something like this drive by, with a phone number to call for tours |
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| Beautiful old Live Oak trees |
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| Stopped at an old hardware store |
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| The inside of the hardware store was a bit disappointing in how messy it was |
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| Residential street in Fernandina, nice area to walk |
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| Saw lots of flowers - enjoy the photos family who are already having snow |
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| Winter is not cold and dark in Florida |
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| You would think it is summer time. |
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| Enjoyed all the birdhouses in the tree |
A few days of warm temperatures and virtually no wind made it excellent for Dean to clean the hulls from the "moustache" of brown the boat gets while traversing the ICW from the tannins in the water. Kris worked on the engine and finished sewing the shoe and life jacket bags for the dinghy.
Our port engine had an issue with hard starting and lots of white smoke - so Kris checked the glow plugs and found them all bad. We were able to find two out of three needed in town, so picked those up and Kris worked on installing. Since she had to shut fuel off, she decided to check the injectors and give them a brief clean as well. An all day project
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| Engine torn apart a bit, with tips of gloves cut and covering injector ports |
We took a break after a couple days of work, and headed to town again. This time a 5 mile walk into the grocery store and back. Stopped and got Dean a haircut as well.
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| Time for a trim. His next cut will be on the boat with Kris wielding the scissors. |
On our way back we saw a lot of people working to set up some kind of partitions in a parking lot area so we stopped to chat. Found out the largest tournament in the US for Petanque was happening this coming weekend. So Friday we headed in to watch Petanque, and of course stop for some ice cream as well.
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| Petanque is like Bocce Ball |
Dean got the hulls clean, and Kris got the engine work and sewing done before the weather turned bad.
Made some new friends, as another Manta owner asked to visit to talk electrical upgrades. They were in the area, so drove up, and Dean picked them up from the dinghy dock and brought them to the boat. Jandals - a Manta 42 owned by Dave and Carey, along with good friend and fellow sailor Toby came out to the boat. Unfortunately the wind had picked up and the day was cloudy, and they all arrived wet and salty from the ride. Like true sailors, they were undaunted, and even kept the wonderful delicious pastries they had picked up dry, which we all enjoyed with a cup of tea (except Dean - Mt. Dew was his drink of choice). Had a wonderful visit - but forgot to take any photos.
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| Windy cloudy day for Jandals visit. Sorry about the wet dink ride |
We will head further south today, and have a Marina booked for Monday for visiting with Deans cousin.
Great that you’re finally getting to some warmer weather. Well done Kris on the engine service. FYI, my sister has just visited Zealand and tells me that Jandals are what Kiwis call Flip Flops 🤣
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