Jos Spring 2022 (March 15, 2022 – June 12, 2022)
We are finally back on board!
David is sufficiently recovered for us to live aboard again. He’s going to cardiac rehab, and we plan to leave on April 4. First stop: St. Augustine Municipal Marina
We have spent all of our time hustling on boat projects. Lucky for us, our friend, Ernst, loves helping with (read: doing) all of our projects. We feel we have a good amount of important work done to allow us to be safe and comfortable on the next leg of our journey.
Projects galore…
We bought a manual windlass (Simpson Lawrence Seatiger 555) that needed a refit from Sailors Exchange in St. Augustine. We were excited about not having to worry about an electrical windlass breaking (ever again). But we were a little worried about the cost of the refit and when it would actually get done. But then, we were able to buy ANOTHER 555 that didn’t need to be refit (it’s in very good condition) AND fit our anchor chain. Facebook SCORE!!
Roadtrip…
David went on a Florida panhandle road trip to pick it up. Ernst and David have spent our last days removing the old windlass (damn you, 5200!!!), cleaning up the old wiring, reglassing the anchor-well (?) in the bow, filling in holes, and drilling new ones (Ernst is our go-to guy for putting holes in Tocino), and installing the 555. The last project will be for Ernst to go up the mast again, McLube the sail track and install our new windex. This may or may not happen due to weather.
I spent many days heat-gunning, scraping, and sanding the cap rails. They looked pretty shitty (which definitely cut down on labor – lol), and I want to try something new that isn’t varnish. I am excited to try the Semco Teak Sealer later in the season.
We cleaned and painted the dinghy bottom.
…And we’re off!
Headed to St. Augustine on April 4. It took a village to get us out of our slip. With lots of hands and lots of lines, we pulled Tocino into an empty slip and turned into the fairway without taking anything out. Lol.
We got to St. Augustine and got assigned to mooring ball #1. That is a great spot! South of the Lion’s Bridge, so we didn’t have to worry about timing our arrival, and it was close to the dinghy dock and the marina office. Nice score!
We would have to wait out some weather, so we extended our visit to the 8th. One of our outboards shit the bed, so David rowed them both in and took them in a cab to be serviced. We left them there to be picked up at a later date when David went to pick up the car. We departed St. Aug, but due to high winds, we moored in Fernandina and had to spend an extra day there. We didn’t even dinghy in because we would have been a mess by the time we got to the dock.
Stayed in St. Simon’s for the night, then did an outside run of Georgia, coming inside to anchor each night. We had a cute, little Palm Warbler stowaway with us for a bit during the ride from Walburg Creek to Beaufort, SC.
Oof…
Our ride from Stono River to McClellanville to dock at Leland Oil was low water the entire way (including some “bumps”). We docked at Leland Oil and had dinner at T.W. Graham & Co. with the couple from Kyan II. Check out their adventures on YouTube and Instagram. We met them previously on our way south in Jacksonville, FL.
Anchored in Georgetown, SC (YAY!!!) for a few days to see some of our favorite peeps and eat some of our favorite foods. We are definitely talking about fried pork chops at Aunny’s.
Meandered to Swansboro and Casper’s Marina and had a great dinner at The Boro. Definitely worth another stop sometime.
Headed to Beaufort, NC, for a couple of days. It was great to see it from the water. We walked around some of the Rachel Carson Reserve and saw the wild horses (from the dinghy and the restaurant at the Beaufort Hotel-gotta get some pork belly!!).
Got to Bridgeton Harbor Marina on 4.24.22 and parked it for over a month. David flew to get the car, we worked on some boat projects, saw some of our NC peeps, and I got to have a road trip and see some friends.
Keep on keeping on…
We continued our way north, stopping in Norfolk and Deltaville (see Lessons Learned post for my Deltaville experience). Deltaville is a great stop with many little anchorages to choose from.
Spent a couple of days in Annapolis and made it to Port Washington, NY, on June 12 to begin our northern summer…
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