Trip Diary for
March, 2010
Monday, Mar. 1; St. Simons Island, GA: The
day was devoted to re-supplying and readying the boat to abandon its winter
port. Weather for tomorrow's planned departure was questionable, with rain and
moderately high winds (15-20 knots) forecast.
Mar. 2-31; Savannah, GA: After a final weather forecast
check at 4:45 AM Tuesday, we decided to depart for
Isle of Hope Marina despite
unchanged predictions. With clouds and light rain falling, it was 6:55
before light was sufficient to depart. Running 200 rpm harder than
usual (11 mph), we reached Sapelo Sound, the midpoint of the 88 mi. trip and
largest open water area about 11 AM. Winds had gradually increased to only
12 mph. This produced only 2-3 ft. waves on our nose for a 4 mi. reach; thus, the Sound was not difficult as feared from forecasts.
We met only 4 boats, but saw many dolphins and white pelicans.
While it remained cloudy, rains stopped at Sapelo and winds dropped as we moved
north.
With 10.5 ft. tides at this full-moon time of month, speed-over-ground varied
from 7.5 to 14 mph, i.e. tide currents often exceeded 3 mph! We reached our destination at 3:35, just at low tide slack-time which made for
easy docking on the inside of the face-dock. After taking the courtesy car
for dinner and exhausted from a long, somewhat stressful day, we crawled into
bed at 8 PM. We left the boat Wednesday only to shower; a
delightful day of regrouping. It was noted that this unusually cold winter
and high winds had decimated the sandfly population; thus, there has been some
good from the weather. Sharon Hawks reported that Keith with his
brother, Melvin, had succeeded in their effort to work the "boat puzzle" that
frustrated us on their previous time aboard. 
Thursday Lola got a nail fill at
Shear Elegance Salon in Sandfly, about 1.5 mi. from the marina. We
used the courtesy car a second time for dinner at one of the best and most
economical Mexican restaurant we've enjoyed, Jalapenos in Sandfly, before
grocery shopping. Friday dawned bright, but still 10 degrees below
normal. We drove to St. Joseph's
Candler Hospital for routine blood tests before breakfast at I-Hop.
Returning, Larry worked on outside cleaning tasks. We then walked to Sandfly
for Lola's haircut before a late Jalapenos lunch. Daughter Sandy
and her husband Klaus Leitem arrived from Noblesville, IN about 2 PM Saturday
with temps now in the mid-60s.
After relaxing and a bit of conversation we went, where else, to Jalapenos
for a light dinner. We attended the 11:15 AM Sunday Confirmation
service at Isle of Hope UMC, only 3
blocks from the marina.
With an incredible 37 confirmands it was SRO. Despite arriving 10 min.
early we sat in the next to last row of the balcony! After light sandwiches
aboard we drove into town to walk/shop the Riverfront before returning to watch the
Oscars. Monday's weather was perfect for an
Old Town Trolley Tour
plus two historic homes, Davenport and Owens-Thomas.
With delightful lunches at Six Pence Pub on Bull St., this required the
entire day. We drove to Tybee Island about 11 AM Tuesday, but were
disappointed to find the lighthouse and
Fort Screven
closed on Tuesdays; however, we enjoyed light, good lunches at
Sting Ray's. To
celebrate Sandy and Klaus' 30th anniversary we enjoyed sumptuous dinners with
mud pie desserts
at the Chart House on Savannah's riverfront. We departed for St.
Simons Island at 10 AM Wednesday to show our children that beautiful area
and to shuttle our car back to Savannah. The air conditioner was again not
working, but temperatures made that a temporary non-problem. After touring/shopping the historic town
section we took them to lunch at
Gnat's Landing. Its special
"ambience", evidenced by a unique restroom decor
,
was a neat surprise for them. After visiting
Fort Fredercia Monument and
more shopping we returned to Savannah at 7:30 PM. After a week of near perfect
weather, it began raining at 6:30 AM Thursday and continued until 7:30 PM
with particularly intense periods during the late afternoon when the ladies
decided it was time to shop the Savannah and the Oglethorpe malls. Wayne
and Judy Skaggs, on their way home in Raleigh, NC from a week in Northport, FL,
met us at Driftaway Cafe in
Sandfly for wonderful seafood dinners before coming aboard the Lola Marie
to enjoy Lola's chocolate chiffon pie and good conversation until 11 PM.
It was cloudy, but without rain Friday. We headed to Pooler, GA (20
mi.) about 10:30 to visit the huge, incredible Mighty 8th Air Museum.
Its "must see" exhibits of WWII achievements in Europe required more than 3 hrs.
to mostly complete. Sandy and Klaus left for IN at 9 AM Saturday.
Robert and Ann Levine, Sandpiper, brought their car to the marina and
joined us for lunch at Driftaway Cafe.
Otherwise, the day was busy with laundry, ironing, computer file updates and minor boat
repairs. The 11:15 Sunday Isle of Hope UMC
service had only 30 percent of the previous week's confirmation attendance.
It was truly a day of rest with good weather. Monday was spent on
the boat enjoying spring and the return of a few sandflys. We left at 7 AM
Tuesday for an appointment at the local
Fairlane Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda
to repair the car's air conditioner. They diagnosed it to be a condenser
leak with a bill so high we decided to drive on to Brunswick to "discuss"
adjusted repair terms. Returning, we encountered a 2.5 hr. I-95 traffic
jam during which we moved 6 mi. It was almost 5 PM before we made it back
to the boat. Bob and Ann, Sandpiper, had arrived from St. Simons,
together with three guests, Ann's brother John Albee and wife Phyllis and
Phyllis' daughter Amy. It rained until late afternoon Wednesday.
The seven of us enjoyed lunch at Driftaway Cafe.
That evening, all came aboard for Lola's chocolate chiffon pie and good
conversation. Thursday was mostly devoted to handling fiscal
transfer business as near perfect spring weather returned with sun and mid-70's
temps, as demonstrated by these Bradford pear trees in Sandfly.
It was inside spring cleaning and vacuuming day Friday. We joined
the Levine's and their relatives for great Greek dinners at
Olympia Cafe on the river front.
Lola done laundry and ironed Saturday while Larry removed and cleaned a leaking sump
for the head sink drains (naturally, it was almost inaccessible). A very
light rain fell from 10 AM til 5 PM Sunday, but produce less than .1 in.
of water. We stayed aboard following Isle of Hope UMC's
11:15 service until Bob and Ann arrived from a day returning their guests to
Brunswick, then joined them at Driftaway Cafe
for a final meal together before their brief return to Nashville. We
departed at 6:40 AM Monday to take the car to Brunswick to replace the
leaking AC condenser. They loaned us a Ford Fusion, enabling Lola to have
a nail fill at KP Nails and accomplish other business in the vicinity;
Larry was very impressed with that small auto. Returning at 4:30
(no traffic problems on I-95 this trip), we enjoyed dinner at Jalapenos
before turning in early. Lola awoke Tuesday not feeling well, so we
stayed aboard until 5 PM when she was better before driving to Atlanta Bread
Co. for light dinners. Laundry and boat keeping consumed Wednesday.
We picked up an Enterprise rental at 8 AM Thursday to shuttle our
car to Myrtle Beach, our next extended stop. After some confusion and
difficulty making contact with Barefoot Resorts Marina, just coming our
of bankruptcy, we drove the rental to Calabash for late seafood lunches at
Ella's before continuing on to Sunset Beach where Larry bought a new
Standard Horizon GX2100 VHF radio with integrated DSC and AIS (Automatic
Identification Service that announces commercial boats in one's area).
Lola managed to visit several thrift shops in the two cities before we took the
more scenic Route 17 path toward Savannah, intending to stop at Bruster's Ice
Cream in Murrells Inlet; unfortunately, it had gone out-of-business.
It was 10:30 PM before we reached the boat. Friday and Saturday
were spent aboard reading, relaxing and playing Soduko and/or Spider except for brief trips with the courtesy car to eat and
grocery shop for departure. Larry unsuccessfully tried to install his new
radio (couldn't get AIS working), before returning everything to its original
configuration. Our final day here began with a fantastic
Palm Sunday Isle of Hope UMC
musical service with choir and orchestra. In the evening we enjoyed dinner
at Jalapenos.
Monday, Mar. 29; St. Beaufort, SC: Almost 1 in.
of rain fell overnight. We awoke at 6:15 AM to check forecasts. The
rain had stopped, but cloud cover delayed sufficient light for departure a few
minutes. We cast-off at 7:15. Enjoying favorable tides, some as high
as 4 mph, for 70 percent of the 53 mi. enabled us to reach Downtown Marina
by 1:30 PM. After rinsing down the boat, we used the courtesy car to enjoy
Bruster's ice cream before Lola's Maryland frozen crab cakes for dinner
aboard.
Tuesday, Mar. 30;
Charleston, SC: Another early 7:05 AM departure. Winds were 8-12, but
only the 2 mi. wide Coosaw River had significant waves and then only 1-2 footers
that were following so there was no discomfort. We had only 50 percent
favorable tides, but by running slightly harder we covered 65 mi. to reach
Charleston City Marina at 2:20. We took their 4 PM van to enjoy a bit
of downtown shopping and dinner at Sticky Fingers. It was 10:30
when we completed on-line registration for the June
ASABE meeting in
Pittsburg and catching up on e-mail.
Wednesday, Mar.
31; St. Georgetown, SC: Woke up 30 min. later, but deferred eating until
underway at 7:15 AM in perfect boating weather; first time this year it broke 80
and Larry wore shorts. Dozens of laughing seagulls
accompanied much of the trip, believing our wake provided an easy meal.
With long stretches of the
66 mi. in narrow waters with development requiring no wake speed, we did not
make Harborwalk Marina
until 2:55 PM. A bit later Just Relax, with loopers John and Sue
Winters and their friends Cynthia and Hank Whitley, docked. We joined them
for outstanding dinners at the
River Room Restaurant.
Water miles traveled to date on this second loop: 5,041; this month:
273
Questions or comments? Just
e-mail us.
While it remained cloudy, rains stopped at Sapelo and winds dropped as we moved
north.
With 10.5 ft. tides at this full-moon time of month, speed-over-ground varied
from 7.5 to 14 mph, i.e. tide currents often exceeded 3 mph! We reached our destination at 3:35, just at low tide slack-time which made for
easy docking on the inside of the face-dock. After taking the courtesy car
for dinner and exhausted from a long, somewhat stressful day, we crawled into
bed at 8 PM. We left the boat Wednesday only to shower; a
delightful day of regrouping. It was noted that this unusually cold winter
and high winds had decimated the sandfly population; thus, there has been some
good from the weather. Sharon Hawks reported that Keith with his
brother, Melvin, had succeeded in their effort to work the "boat puzzle" that
frustrated us on their previous time aboard. 
Thursday Lola got a nail fill at
Shear Elegance Salon in Sandfly, about 1.5 mi. from the marina. We
used the courtesy car a second time for dinner at one of the best and most
economical Mexican restaurant we've enjoyed, Jalapenos in Sandfly, before
grocery shopping. Friday dawned bright, but still 10 degrees below
normal. We drove to St. Joseph's
Candler Hospital for routine blood tests before breakfast at I-Hop.
Returning, Larry worked on outside cleaning tasks. We then walked to Sandfly
for Lola's haircut before a late Jalapenos lunch. Daughter Sandy
and her husband Klaus Leitem arrived from Noblesville, IN about 2 PM Saturday
with temps now in the mid-60s.
After relaxing and a bit of conversation we went, where else, to Jalapenos
for a light dinner. We attended the 11:15 AM Sunday Confirmation
service at Isle of Hope UMC, only 3
blocks from the marina.
With an incredible 37 confirmands it was SRO. Despite arriving 10 min.
early we sat in the next to last row of the balcony! After light sandwiches
aboard we drove into town to walk/shop the Riverfront before returning to watch the
Oscars. Monday's weather was perfect for an
Old Town Trolley Tour
plus two historic homes, Davenport and Owens-Thomas.
With delightful lunches at Six Pence Pub on Bull St., this required the
entire day. We drove to Tybee Island about 11 AM Tuesday, but were
disappointed to find the lighthouse and
Fort Screven
closed on Tuesdays; however, we enjoyed light, good lunches at
Sting Ray's. To
celebrate Sandy and Klaus' 30th anniversary we enjoyed sumptuous dinners with
mud pie desserts
at the Chart House on Savannah's riverfront. We departed for St.
Simons Island at 10 AM Wednesday to show our children that beautiful area
and to shuttle our car back to Savannah. The air conditioner was again not
working, but temperatures made that a temporary non-problem. After touring/shopping the historic town
section we took them to lunch at
Gnat's Landing. Its special
"ambience", evidenced by a unique restroom decor
,
was a neat surprise for them. After visiting
Fort Fredercia Monument and
more shopping we returned to Savannah at 7:30 PM. After a week of near perfect
weather, it began raining at 6:30 AM Thursday and continued until 7:30 PM
with particularly intense periods during the late afternoon when the ladies
decided it was time to shop the Savannah and the Oglethorpe malls. Wayne
and Judy Skaggs, on their way home in Raleigh, NC from a week in Northport, FL,
met us at Driftaway Cafe in
Sandfly for wonderful seafood dinners before coming aboard the Lola Marie
to enjoy Lola's chocolate chiffon pie and good conversation until 11 PM.
It was cloudy, but without rain Friday. We headed to Pooler, GA (20
mi.) about 10:30 to visit the huge, incredible Mighty 8th Air Museum.
Its "must see" exhibits of WWII achievements in Europe required more than 3 hrs.
to mostly complete. Sandy and Klaus left for IN at 9 AM Saturday.
Robert and Ann Levine, Sandpiper, brought their car to the marina and
joined us for lunch at Driftaway Cafe.
Otherwise, the day was busy with laundry, ironing, computer file updates and minor boat
repairs. The 11:15 Sunday Isle of Hope UMC
service had only 30 percent of the previous week's confirmation attendance.
It was truly a day of rest with good weather. Monday was spent on
the boat enjoying spring and the return of a few sandflys. We left at 7 AM
Tuesday for an appointment at the local
Fairlane Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda
to repair the car's air conditioner. They diagnosed it to be a condenser
leak with a bill so high we decided to drive on to Brunswick to "discuss"
adjusted repair terms. Returning, we encountered a 2.5 hr. I-95 traffic
jam during which we moved 6 mi. It was almost 5 PM before we made it back
to the boat. Bob and Ann, Sandpiper, had arrived from St. Simons,
together with three guests, Ann's brother John Albee and wife Phyllis and
Phyllis' daughter Amy. It rained until late afternoon Wednesday.
The seven of us enjoyed lunch at Driftaway Cafe.
That evening, all came aboard for Lola's chocolate chiffon pie and good
conversation. Thursday was mostly devoted to handling fiscal
transfer business as near perfect spring weather returned with sun and mid-70's
temps, as demonstrated by these Bradford pear trees in Sandfly.
It was inside spring cleaning and vacuuming day Friday. We joined
the Levine's and their relatives for great Greek dinners at
Olympia Cafe on the river front.
Lola done laundry and ironed Saturday while Larry removed and cleaned a leaking sump
for the head sink drains (naturally, it was almost inaccessible). A very
light rain fell from 10 AM til 5 PM Sunday, but produce less than .1 in.
of water. We stayed aboard following Isle of Hope UMC's
11:15 service until Bob and Ann arrived from a day returning their guests to
Brunswick, then joined them at Driftaway Cafe
for a final meal together before their brief return to Nashville. We
departed at 6:40 AM Monday to take the car to Brunswick to replace the
leaking AC condenser. They loaned us a Ford Fusion, enabling Lola to have
a nail fill at KP Nails and accomplish other business in the vicinity;
Larry was very impressed with that small auto. Returning at 4:30
(no traffic problems on I-95 this trip), we enjoyed dinner at Jalapenos
before turning in early. Lola awoke Tuesday not feeling well, so we
stayed aboard until 5 PM when she was better before driving to Atlanta Bread
Co. for light dinners. Laundry and boat keeping consumed Wednesday.
We picked up an Enterprise rental at 8 AM Thursday to shuttle our
car to Myrtle Beach, our next extended stop. After some confusion and
difficulty making contact with Barefoot Resorts Marina, just coming our
of bankruptcy, we drove the rental to Calabash for late seafood lunches at
Ella's before continuing on to Sunset Beach where Larry bought a new
Standard Horizon GX2100 VHF radio with integrated DSC and AIS (Automatic
Identification Service that announces commercial boats in one's area).
Lola managed to visit several thrift shops in the two cities before we took the
more scenic Route 17 path toward Savannah, intending to stop at Bruster's Ice
Cream in Murrells Inlet; unfortunately, it had gone out-of-business.
It was 10:30 PM before we reached the boat. Friday and Saturday
were spent aboard reading, relaxing and playing Soduko and/or Spider except for brief trips with the courtesy car to eat and
grocery shop for departure. Larry unsuccessfully tried to install his new
radio (couldn't get AIS working), before returning everything to its original
configuration. Our final day here began with a fantastic
Palm Sunday Isle of Hope UMC
musical service with choir and orchestra. In the evening we enjoyed dinner
at Jalapenos.