A Visit from the Parents

Now this is relaxing!

My mom and step-father would be travelling south on I-95 over the weekend, on the way to their home in Florida.  Knowing that I would probably be on the boat over the weekend, they scheduled to spend the weekend with us in Brunswick.

As soon as I knew they would be coming, I began to plan a day trip.  My mother used to have a sailboat and made trips on it to the Bahamas.  My step-father owned a couple of trawlers back in the 80's and has cruised with us before.  So both of them enjoy boating.  I though they might like to get underway!

Lunch at 685 Seafood Restaurant

But then, just weeks before the scheduled visit, my first mate, line-handler, and wife (that's all one person), had something come up that prevented her from going with me to Brunswick.  Now what?  I had never taken Elixir out without Marie on board.

Now some of you may be wondering what's the big deal.  I had my parents on board to handle lines plus dock hands.  But Marie doesn't use dock hands.  She lassos the cleat from the boat.  Not only that, but she can mostly tie off the line without leaving the boat.  So she can get 3-4 lines over without any help while I stay at the helm holding Elixir in place.

View from the 685 Seafood Restaurant

Additionally, we know what each other is going to do.  We often hear couples yelling at each other as they are docking.  But all I do is tell Marie which line I want over first ( this is the line I will pull against to keep Elixir in place).  From that point on she does whatever she does without any prompting from me.  All I know is she will tell me when that first line is over and when she is done (at which point I can shut off the engine).  So I was nervous to pull out without her.

I did not want to let my parents down though, so I asked a neighboring sailboat to help cast off and catch us when we returned.  And off we went.

Dick at the helm

It takes about an hour to reach the restaurant which is long enough to enjoy it but not long enough to tire of it.  The predicted winds held off and the weather was comfortable, especially going over.

The restaurant was nice and we ate on the porch with a view of Elixir....and the other boats.  Dick took his turns at the helm which allowed me to prepare lines and fenders, something Marie normally does.

We all enjoyed the trip and my first time underway without Marie was a success!  Its good to know I can do it, but hopefully I won't have to very often!

International Coastal Cleanup Day

Elixir sports her new banner!

September 19, 2015 was International Coastal Cleanup Day.  On this day, hundreds of thousands of people around the world join in to clean up the coast in their area.  As the flagship of CleanerWaters.org, Elixir joined in the effort.

Our granddaughter, Tori, and her father, Daryle, joined us for some cleaning and some clean fun!

We pulled out Saturday morning and made the hour long trip over to Driftwood Beach, where we had decided to volunteer our cleanup efforts.

Daryle at the helm while Ron watches on

As soon as I cleared the slip, I let Daryle take the helm.  Daryle, our daughter, Jennifer, and their daughter, Tori, frequently come to join us on Elixir and so I figured it was time he learned to captain the boat.  His ability to be at the helm can put an extra person in the rotation and also allow them to take Elixir out on their own.  He actually did very well keeping her on a straight course and successfully maneuvering the boat while we dropped and retrieved the anchor three times.

Once we loaded up the dinghy with the crew and supplies, we landed on the beach and began cleaning.  It was amazing the amount of garbage laying within feet of unsuspecting families.

The crew returns for lunch

After about an hour of cleaning the beach we began transporting the garbage back to Elixir in time for lunch.  We had originally intended to dinghy back to the beach after lunch for some swimming, but the water was a little rough and it was windy, so the crew voted to move elsewhere.

Elixir at rest off Ft. Frederica

As we began to bring up the anchor, one of the huge car carrier ships went by.  It is common to see them coming and going out of Brunswick, so we paid little attention to its presence until Daryle yelled that a big wave was coming!  I looked up and saw about a 10 foot wave about to hit us broadside!  I yelled at Marie, who was manning the dinghy line (the dinghy was still in the water) to keep it out of our propeller.  We had no time to react other than to grab a part of the boat and hold on.  With only 25 foot of anchor line out in 18 foot depths, we could not even maneuver to head into the wave.  It rocked us hard and the gunnel was only inches above the water on the side Marie was on.  I thought for sure she was going over.  She told me later that her concern was the dinghy as Elixir rolled over on it 3 times before we settled back down!  As soon as we could stand again, the cry went out, "where's Tori?"  Not seeing her on deck, I scrambled inside to find her calmly climbing out of the V-berth!  She told us how she braced herself to keep from falling out of the berth and then watched as all sorts of items flew about the cabin!  What a relief to see that she was safe and I was impressed at how maturely she handled the whole situation!

We come as friends!

The excitement over, we completed weighing anchor and headed up the ICW to Ft. Frederica to give the crew a much needed break.

After arriving ashore, the first thing we saw was deer... lots of deer.  And they did not seem afraid.  They just cautiously kept a safe distance from us but you could get quite close to them.

Ft. Frederica was one of the oldest British forts in Georgia, built about the same time as Ft. King George in Darien.  However, Ft. Frederica was built with stone so parts of it still remain after almost 300 years!

Are they trying to sink Elixir?

The fort was supported by a fairly large town for the times and parts of the town still exist.  It is an interesting walk to go up and down the streets reading the signs that tell about the history of the town.  John Wesley preached there on occasion and was bitten by one of the more sourly residents!

The fort was built to defend against the Spanish in Florida who would conduct raiding parties up into Georgia.

The Fort's magazine

A benefit of coming by boat was that the park closes at 5p.m.  They close the park by locking the gates across the road leading into the park, so cars can not enter.  As a boat, we dinghy to a dock on the other side of the park and walk in.  So once the park closed, we had the whole place to ourselves!  Well, us and the deer. :)

We stayed the night anchored off the fort where we were well protected from the wind we had experienced at Driftwood Beach.  It was a calm peaceful night on the hook.

The crew and their "catch"

The next morning, we pulled up the anchor and headed back to Brunswick.  We collected some more garbage out of the water on the way.  Once at Brunswick, we unloaded the garbage and discovered we had collected 85.9 pounds!  It was a successful cleanup!

It was time to say goodbye until the next time and then we went our separate ways.