I can tell you this for free, I am never again coming by boat back down this bit of the US coast. Did you ever see the movie Speed, where the poor guy who is just a tourist ends up on the wrong bus (the one with the bomb) and only sees a LOT of the airport, which is the only thing he has already seen?... No? Well, that is how I feel. We keep going up and down this bit, unable to get further north... We are ONCE AGAIN back at the Brunswick Landing Marina in GA. Actually, this is a lot like our professional lives where we moved from GA-FL and back, several times.... but never got anywhere else. Sigh.
The silver lining is the chance to see our friends Dottie (an early adopter in the legion of faithful readers) and Jack, plus puppy dog Dixie - who live on St Simons. But - I am getting ahead of myself.
Rick pulled a fast one on me. He said we could stop at Cumberland Island to walk the shore, which I have really been wanting to do (and the dingy was ALREADY DOWN!! - must be a God thing). But in order to do that and then get to Brunswick before dark we would have to 'get up at a reasonable hour'. Those are words that make my blood run cold, right up there with his use of the word 'hike'. He really had me over a barrel, all in the guise of making my own damn wishes come true. Well played, Captain, well played...
As we left Fernandina this cruise ship reminded me that, all over the world, cruise ships are suspended in time. They had to find the closest cheap place to dock - many remaining anchored at sea to avoid port charges - and the crews often cannot get off. This ghost ship waits for a future and a purpose...Like recent college graduates, I suppose. : (
I was all excited because we got to Cumberland right on time BUT ........ the dingy motor wouldn't stay running. Rick tried heroically not to disappoint me, but eventually it had to be called. Motor dead at 10:00 hours. So close to the island but so far. Back up the dingy went and we continued our journey to Brunswick. I felt like crying and had to lie down for an hour to have an attitude adjustment. (I do realize it's a first world problem - but sometimes the heart wants what it wants).
We had been anticipating truly terrible Memorial Weekend boat traffic, but it wasn't bad and we arrived at Brunswick Landing Marina a bit early. We wanted to stop at the fuel dock first, which is an easy face-dock tie up - so I DROVE! My first docking!! It was a great learning experience all around. I learned a lot about docking and Rick learned that yelling 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING' part way through the process is not really constructive guidance. It actually lead to a great conversation about communication and stress...
We got in just in time as there was a terrific thunderstorm on the way and we had to get the fuel in before lightening was spotted. I didn't know that was a thing... Great. Something else to worry about. Note to self: distant lightening = exploding boat = bad.
Great pizza from Fox's Pizza for dinner, then actual showers at the marina. To get to the showers we had to run the gauntlet of boaters partying at the top of the pier with zero disregard for social distancing. Hopefully we out-ran the virus particles.
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| A shrimp trawler spreads her wings as we come into Brunswick Harbor. |
Sunday we borrowed Jack's truck and bought some kayaks. I've been looking for some on Craigslist and Facebook Market place for a long time, and they are a HOT commodity. They were always sold before I could put in an offer. We are hopeful that this will make us a little more mobile as they are way easier to put down than the dingy.
Dinner was a delicious social-distanced affair on Dottie and Jack's back pouch. We really love readers who cook for us. Just fyi.
Now we will get to read about kayak adventures too!
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