Six weeks in a boat yard
December 2008 through January 2009
During the Christmas break, while the boatyard was closed, we had time to settle into our new temporary home in Green Cove Springs, surrounded by boats of all sizes and types. The small dock that belongs to Holland Marine Boatyard is surrounded by large docks that used to belong to the navy, and has since been abandoned by them. Now it is the home to several boat yards, a small marina, two cruise ships that have never been used, and some very dilapadated ships that are slowly sinking and rusting away. One boat once boasted being a research vessel in the Arctic and had even been used to salvage a gold shipment on a wreck that sank with the Union armys payroll in gold bullion during the civil war.
It now lies there
rotting away until the river reclaims it. Millions of dollars worth of equipment just left to the elements. At the very end of the same dock sits a huge hover
craft skeleton, silent and spooky when you walk underneath its pontoons that span the dock.
Exploring the docks on our morning walks, especially in the fog, often gave us an eerie "Das Boot" like feeling, as though we
were part of a movie of that genre.
The area also boasts a "club house" which is used by the local boaters for its warmth in the winter, kitchen, computer, TV, laundry and showers. We were welcomed
instantly by a handful of salty looking sailors, who live on their boats at the marina. We were always invited to their cookouts or to go sailing with them.
Heartened by their generosity and magnanimity we felt guilty for never making it to their parties, as their favorite pastime seemed to be emptying several six
packs and smoking packs of cigarrettes. Being the only girl amongst a bunch of drinkers and smokers wasn't on my priority list, although both Dave and I sincerely
appreciated their kindnesses. We became friends with our sweet neighbor Billy, who was also at the boat yard refitting his 35 foot Morgan sloop. Billy, a retired construction
supervisor who built hotels all over the country, had fallen in with the party crowd, and we would walk by his boat in the evenings to find him slumped over
in his salon, fast asleep, surrounded by empty beer bottles. In the mornings he often announced to us that he was now giving up drinking and smoking, partly due to
his doctor's strict orders, and we would cheer him on. Invariably Dave would come back to our boat sometime in the middle of the day and tell me that "Billy isn't
doing too well with his resolve!", and by evening it was like hitting a rewind button. We really felt for Billy, as he ended up in the intensive care unit shortly after
we left Green Cove Springs due
to his off the charts blood pressure, and hope that he can live up to his own resolution!
2009 rolled around before we knew it, and soon all the guys at the boat yard were back in business. We moved off our boat and watched her being hauled out of the
water for a bottom paint job. Our friends Vince & Michelle kindly offered us their luxurious guest bedroom while the boat was on the hard, so we drove up
to Georgia for a week to be spoiled by them. We got to have long hot showers in a lovely granite bathroom and sleep like babies in a big, comfortable bed
with no howling winds or clanking halyards. And sleep we did! We must have been a bit deprived of solid hours of sleep without having to get up at sub-zero
temperatures in the night to hike a quarter mile to use the bathroom facilities. All in all it was a lovely week with the two of them, and we felt incredibly grateful
for their hospitality! The highlight for me was a trip to the humane society with Michelle, which she wanted to check out to volunteer with their puppies.
They had a large room full of about forty or fifty kitty cats, most of which were comfortably asleep until I walked in the door. I was instantly surrounded by
feline love, with cats climbing all over me purring and craving affection. The same was true for the doggies, who could hardly get enough of your attention.
If tail wags could be harnessed for energy they could have probably turned on all the light bulbs in Brunswick! I really had to struggle not to adopt a few
kitties to take along on our boat journey.
Cold weather and heaps of rain kept our boat on the hard days after we left Vince & Michelle's place, so we booked ourselves in to the local Howard & Johnson motel for $40 per night. It had just been refurbished, and was actually really nice. To top it off the woman at the reception had lived in Murrieta, California for several years! To make up for lost time, Tom even came into his yard on weekends to finish the sanding and painting.
Finally the day rolled around when Anam Cara, now with her new name painted on the stern, and a dark red hull, was ready to be put back in the water. Her packing gland (that sounds like something it isn't!) was repacked as it had been leaking excessively, and one of her thru hulls had been replaced. We watched in the pouring rain as she was let back into the river, and took her around to her slip. Shortly afterwards the bilge pump started running, so we inspected the new thru hull only to find water pouring into the bilges! In the wet weather the binding material hadn't set properly, and the boat was filling up with water. Luckily it was early in the day still, and so she was hauled back out immediately to remedy the problem. Back to Howard & Johnson we went, a bit dejected, and a bit more boat savvy. Several days later we were able to move back on to the boat, without incidence.
Our first visitors aboard
Towards the end of January we had the wonderful privelege to have our dear friends Laurie & David come to visit us from California. As it happened, David had
to come to Florida to teach a workshop, and so Laurie used up some frequent flier miles to come out too! I was just overjoyed to have my dear dear friend with me, and
drove to the airport full of excitement! David met us the following morning after driving up from Orlando. We enjoyed three heavenly days, going for walks
together, eating scrummy food in different places and doing some sight-
seeing. We took them to St. Augustine, one of the oldest towns in the country, and up to Fernandina Beach, as well as to our favorite restaurant in Ortega - "Biscottis",
where
we pre-celebrated Davids upcoming birthday. Unfortunately we had our mast off the boat during the time they were there (for radar cable installation), and so
could not take them sailing. Nevertheless, it was such a joy and treat for us to spend time with them, and for me to have a chance to catch up with Laurie,
and share our new environment with them. How precious friendships are, and how blessed I am to have such a terriffic friend!
On Obama's inauguration day
we drove them back to the airport in Jacksonville, listening to Obama's inauguration speech. We had a very tearful goodbye, and I spent the rest of the day
very emotional and teary eyed. Not knowing when we will see each other again made the goodbye very difficult! Luckily our friends Vince & Michelle had invited
us to join them at a celebration for the inauguration in Brunswick. We drove up there to a small place called the Oyster Shack and listened to live music, ate the
best shrimp I have ever had, and watched a lot of very very happy people! They were probably the only democrats in the entire area, but there they were, as happy
as we were for a new president who seems to be truly a compassionate and intelligent, worldly leader. Time will tell, but at least we feel some hope and inspiration!
After our short mini-break with Laurie & David it was back to the reality of boat yard work.
All other jobs we had done at Tom's yard were done whilst we lived on the boat. We had a chartplotter and a radar installed, a skymate system (which allows
us to send and receive emails when offshore, albeit in a very limited fashion), and we had a new mainsail and genoa made. Tom convinced us to have a "strong-track"
system" installed on the mast, to make it easier to lift and drop the mainsail, and we opted to have a stack pack made to make it really easy to stow. The genoa
got a roller furling system to pull the sail in and out easily from the cockpit.
The diesel engine was inspected and received two new mounting brackets, as well
as an hour meter and a tune up. The diesel mechanic assured us that for its vintage we have by far the best maintained engine he has ever seen. Alleluja! and
thanks to Johnny and all the previous owners. All in all we had something going on all the time! Decisions had to be made after researching all the options,
and lots more money was spent than we ever anticipated!
However, all the items we bought will make our life aboard much easier, and the sailing a lot safer and easier for the two of us. We learned a HUGE
amount from the guys at the boat yard, in particular from Tom, who is a very experienced sailor and very generous in sharing his time and knowledge. We became
good friends with him and his wife Laurel, and often went to their yoga studio with them, and out to dinner or to a movie. Tom installed our new mainsail on a
saturday, and on the next day he and Laurel went sailing with us on the river. We had a fabulous day together, and again felt incredibly grateful at all the
things we learned from their expertise and local knowledge. I made sure to keep them well fed, and baked bread, cooked beans, lasagna and anything else I could
think of to make sure we all stayed warm and fed! Amazingly to us it was often so cold that we would wake up to frost all over the boat, and windchill factors
in the teens! Who would have thunk it could get so cold in Florida! We also found out what a fantastic sailing boat we have - she sails like a dream!
Making good use of every spare minute, we ran errands to stock up the boat with spare parts, provisions, and more stuff than I care to acknowledge! The boat is
still afloat, I am pleased to report. Some items I still needed for the medical kit were some intravenous needles and tubing for the saline bags we carry
in case of dehydration. Nordic Star, the boat in the slip next to us at the boat yard is owned by Hal and his wife Julie, who is a vet. She was kind enough to
provide us with all the things we needed and then some. She also volunteered Hal to be a guinea pig and show me how to insert IVs and run a saline drip. Bless
their hearts - Hal didn't say a peep when he was volunteered for the role as patient, and Julie enthusiastically showed us everything we need to know! They will
be off cruising in some years to come also! Again we were humbled by the support and kindness we received from virtual strangers in helping us move forward with
our venture.
With our Florida cruising permit on the brink of expiration, we finally managed to get the jobs done on the boat, and after a good cold front with winds up to 40 knots or more, we left Green Cove Springs on a very cold morning. Our blessing was that Tom and Laurel both wanted to come with us, and so the four of us rode the tides down the St. Johns River, past downtown Jacksonville, through several bridges that opened just for us, and up the Intracoastal Waterway into Georgia. It was a beautiful sunny (but cold) winter day, and we got to thoroughly enjoy the ride and each others company. In one day, with the current in our favor all the way, we made it about 70 nautical miles north to St. Marys, Georgia. To our delight and gratitude, Tom & Laurel's friend Eric, and one of the boat yard workers Tod, drove our cars up from Green Cove Springs that evening! We had a wonderful meal in our cozy cabin after we tied the boat to the dock. Salmon, freshly baked bread, noodles and green beans, and great company! Eric is a super friend to have, as he not only drove up our Jeep, but came with all the tools to fix our VHF radio which hadn't worked properly all day. We had some great laughs together, and then, after they left, fell asleep happily in our bunks at our very first "cruising destination"!
