CruiseNews #1
Date: 5/25/99
Port of Call: Thunderbolt (Savannah), Georgia
Subject: Hurry Up and Wait
After much frantic activity and some last minute shopping, we finally
left Brunswick Landing Marina a little after 3:00 PM on Saturday, May 22.
We spent our last hours "in captivity" buying perishable groceries, filling
the water tanks, doing little projects, and giving the boat the last fresh
water bath it is likely to see for a while.
Casting off the dock lines
A few folks stopped by at our announced departure time of Noon to wish us
well, only to find out that we were not quite ready to leave. But
by 3:00, we were as ready as we were going to get, and our dock lines were
handed to us by fellow boaters Jane and Gary Thorsen (who also work at
Georgia Power), John and Nancy Hamilton, and Frank and Shirlene Simms.
We motored away from the marina, under the Sydney Lanier Bridge, and went
about 15 miles to our first night's anchorage at Fort Frederica.
Leaving Lanier Bridge behind
We were up early Sunday morning so that we could be sure to get to
our next anchorage before nightfall. Cathy and I were both exhausted
from all the boat preparations, and also not feeling too well, so even
though we had a fair wind, we motored the 45 miles to our next anchorage
in Cattle Pen Creek. This is the first time I can ever remember feeling
bad enough that I would prefer to motor than sail!
Monday we decided to "motorsail" the 45 miles to Savannah. In
case you don't know, motorsailing is a hybrid of motoring and sailing that
has all the noise and smell of motoring, and most of the work of sailing,
but also has the benefit of going faster than is possible under either
sail or power. We wanted to go fast so we could call all the repairmen
necessary to get our radar and refrigerator fixed.
Monday afternoon we stopped at Palmer Johnson Marina in Savannah.
Normally we don't stay in marinas when we cruise, but we stopped here so
that the repairmen could have easy access to the boat. Of course
no one could see us until Tuesday.
The refrigerator problem was (we hope) just a small leak that the technician
easily repaired today. Unfortunately, the radar technician decided
that the radar problem requires that some parts be ordered, and that we
schedule a lift to get him up the mast to the radar antenna. So we
will be stuck here another few days, waiting for parts. This sounds
like cruising to me!
We will stay here for as long it takes to get the radar fixed.
Our next plans depend on how long that really is, and what the weather
is like when we are ready to go.
As always, we'll keep you posted.
Jim and Cathy