Wednesday May 30, 2012
Last night I had spaghetti on the fold out table within 15 minutes after anchor. We decided ot anchor at the entrance of the cement factory to get some breeze. It worked! This morning we called Dave and Denise Aiken to tell them we were coming into St Augustine today...raised anchor...went aground, all in a matter of 3 minutes. I think that was at 9:30 or so...called Tow Boat US waited. We like the area anyway! Quiet and the only thing we could see was a building in the distance, trees and waterway. It was serene, till we got there, I am sure. The fun part was when a great big boat was traveling North and I alerted Fred and said, “Do you they could give us a big enough wake to get us off?” Fred radioed them and they were very very happy to give us a wake. Boy did they give us a wake...it was the "Rogue Wake" of the century, threw me to the other side of the cockpit on my tush, the coffee pot full of freshly made coffee went flying below from the port side to the starboard side along with potatoes, laptops, electronics and anything else that was loose. It took the entire 2 hours to clean it up. We will be picking coffee grounds out of our toenails for the remainder of the adventure. At least it will smell good like, sorta like Starbucks. All this made us a tiny bit late as we got stuck somewhat! A little further down the waterway we overheated, probably sand from trying to get unstuck. Stopped again and coasted down the waterway, no sails, no motor, just the current. The anchor was a good idea as from my point of view on the GPS (Fred was below working on the engine) we were going into someone’s back yard. Finally, the engine cooled and Fred took over and played with it until he got us un-lodged. I did hear him call Tow Boat US back there (I was at the bow) and I laughed my head off. He was bragging just earlier that the bill was $1,100.00 for the tow off the shoal (wonder what that would have cost if it was Rod’s man made shoal) He said that paid for the insurance he had with Tow Boat US. They didn’t hear him hailing though and good thing since he got us off himself. That would have been a story to tell, Tow Boat US twice in one day. As Tow boat US passed us another time for a call, we overheated again. Now we are drifting...again! Yep, this is fun! Maybe we should just put up a sail or something and forget the engine. This is certainly the scenic route!
Update, Fred put up the sail so we are motor sailing now, making better time. Fred discovered that the radiator cap is shot so we will need to get a new one in St Augustine. So far, so good. I have lost count of engine troubles and running aground but we will never give up! Pretty soon you all will need to call me Anne Bonnie! Arrrgh!
I think we need to stay in St Augustine tomorrow to make up for lost time with great friends! This is so much fun! We just hit a huge thunder storm, how exciting. The deck is cleaned of coffee grounds! Blue skies ahead...hopefully a red sunset!
Missed the sunset because we were at this fabulous restaurant with Dave and Denise Aiken. They came to the St. Augustine Municipal Marina and hopped on for a nickel tour of Casa Mare’ then Fred gave them a ride from the fuel dock to our slip we took for the night. We ate at Aunt Kate’s restaurant. I know this is hard to believe but I ate a whole rack of ribs all by myself. It was fantastic. Had Johnny Cakes, collard greens, sweet potato casserole several kinds of breads and sweet tea. It doesn’t much more “Southern” as that. We all piled into the car and went to their home, which by the way is amazing...and visited them until nearly 11:00. Tomorrow we plan to stay and see the sites of St. Augustine and visit awhile longer with them before we head North again. Poor Fred and Dave hardly got a word in edge wise but we allowed them to share once in awhile! Really! They had fun too! It is soooo good to see them. I loved today, the whole day, even when we got stuck! I thought after we returned to the US things would be not quite as lively as at sea and on the islands, but I was wrong. Life is full of adventures at every corner. God hasn’t run out of surprises yet...I hope he never does!
One bit of sad news, Fred’s computer doesn’t work. I think that pot of coffee drowned it. Keep your fingers crossed that it will work tomorrow...Maybe it just need a bit of drying out.
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