Merry Christmas - Everybody!

The end of 2015 is about here and frankly we are really looking forward to 2016 right now.  We have been at docks way too long but all in all we have Nati about as good as we can do right now.  Tomorrow we depart Melbourne.  Over the last week or so we have had a lot of laughs with Jean, Tom, the Chief and Millie, of course we can't forget Jumbo, Shrimp, Scampi and Mickie.  If you don't know.........don't ask!

Last sunset at Camachee Cove

Christmas lights everywhere

Camachee Cove

To recap......we pulled out of St Augustine 10 days ago and made it to Melbourne.  We are having Christmas with the gang here and last weekend my parents came over from Largo.  Some good laughs were had by all.

The "gang" was all there!

Christmas Eve was put on by Jean & Tom......steak tapas and shrimp went down the hatch very nicely....

Tom with his apple pie

This morning was gift opening and we did quite well.....thank you everyone!  My highlight was my very own rendition of "Rudolph the red nose reindeer" by no other than ....EVAN!  It was great!

Our gifts from under the tree

So....to recap, we have had quite a year and we are looking forward to heading further south.  We  both want blue, clean water off our stern.

  Nati is being let out of the pasture to run!! 

Take 2!!

As they say in the film industry.......take 2, as in lets do everything again, and again and again.  The last couple of weeks has been insanely busy but after today's test run proved, it's all been worth while from our standpoint.

The prior post had us getting ready to head south to make Jean & Tom's Thanksgiving party.  Well, we made it as far as Daytona and ended up turning around.  Our engine woes continued and we were beginning to think we may have to buy oil by the barrel.  So back to St Augustine and Camachee Cove Marina for more work.  To fast forward.......we are now the proud owners of 2 brand new Yanmar 3YM30 diesels!

It's a good thing the Camachee Cove and 1st Mate Marine Services are first rate companies.  While nothing is free in this world we are satisfied with all of the service and the engines are great.  Quiet, a little more power and supposedly 8 lbs lighter.  We will take all that we can get.

Our new instrument panel

3YM30 diesel

getting lowered in place

Besides spending a bunch of $$ we did get to be in St Augustine for the turning on of the Christmas lights.  It's pretty spectacular when the Schooner comes up to the Bridge of Lions and when the horn sounded all the lights switched on.  We had a perfect view and it made for a good night on the mooring ball.  It was too cold to go to town but we were happy to be right there.

The lighting of St Augustine

Downtown

More of downtown

Once the engine work was finished we had a couple of days to wrap up our new wind generator installation.  Now we figure we won't see a lick of wind for weeks on end.  It seems to be working well, even if the amount of wind we have seen is 5kts or less.

Too high to climb

Finishing touches

Tomorrow is the marina Christmas party and we have decided to head south on Sunday.  We are crossing our fingers that all will go as planned.  It's starting to get a little too cold up here in north Florida.  Time to put the pedal to the metal........

Tying up loose ends.......

As we sit here this morning we have our "new" (rebuilt) port engine and hopefully we can get off the dock for a sea trial later today.  The weather is iffy, there is another boat right behind us so we will see.  In the meantime we know we have two engines again, hooray!  First Mate Marine did a great job and they got the engine off Nati and back on without mishap.  If we ever need assistance again I think we will try to get back here.

 

Before

Heading off Nati

rigging up the boom to help

Over the lifelines and to the dock

Finally.....off to the shop

Our empty grimy engine room

Overhauled engine after we painted it up

A much cleaner engine room!

Ready to come aboard

Jim & Bo sliding the engine into the compartment

Finished!

You can see we had Nati protected as best as possible.  A Yanmar 3GM30F block weighs in at around 250-300lbs so you do the best you can to keep the walls and floors covered.

padding

Cardboard everywhere 

Another roll of tape..

While here we thought we were getting invited for cocktails by this boat.  It came in to the marina and just turned around.  It did not look like it would fit!

Hi there!

Turning........

This one on the other hand is one beauty!  When we researched m/v Justice we found out she is the best preserved commuter boat still in existence.  The boat was built in the 30's and served as a commuter for the owner from CT to NYC five days a week.  The boat would cruise at 20-30kts.

Turtle rescue.......a little green turtle was most likely injured by a prop and the marina staff along with a women from Turtle Rescue came to its aid.  They were able to capture it and will be taking it to Marineland, only a few miles south of here.

Lastly.......what do you think of this sunset looking east.  We got into the marina last Monday and this is what we saw.......This picture is not manipulated.

Almost ready to get a move on again.......

Florida ......... at last!

It good to have nice weather with us and just the other day we pulled into St Augustine, FL.  As long as we are here we are going to attempt to stop the hemorrhaging of the port engine.  Oil is not too expensive but we are now going through it like water.  Good ole "First Mate Marine" will do an overhaul so we are looking forward to have another "great running" engine.

Savannah was a great time.  Halloween in that town is lively and fun.  The food was fantastic also.  We even had our first episode with Uber.  We made it back to Nati but I hope we have learned a little more how it works.

Over 9 foot tides near Savannah

Guess what day it is?

After Savannah we continued down the inside since there was not wind and we had timed the currents so we were flying down the ICW.  We did a couple of 55+nm days and that is pretty good for  moving in the fall.  Daylight hours are greatly reduced so it's been up at 6am and on the road at 0630. We made it to Cumberland Island and after a nice night there we moved up to check out St Mary's, GA.

We finally found some cats in the hood!

The town is nice and quiet and there are a number of good restaurants.  Of course the wind and current made it uncomfortable to get off Nati so we skipped dinner on land and used some more of our provisions.

Sv Peacemaker

St Mary's waterfront

The next morning we caught the tide out the channel and direct sail right to St Augustine.  Again, another 55+ nm day but we rode the tide in and caught our mooring ball before sunset.

Sunset in St Augustine

Look who we found......Tyler & Holly

Heading back to the good ship "Renegade"

Now..........lets get the engine working right!!

Fleece......Flannel........who needs those stinkin' things? We are warm again!

Its been a couple of weeks and we have tried to be very productive during that time.  Productive being defined as moving the heck out of the cold and into warm weather!  Are we swimming yet?  NO...but shorts are back on and we haven't had to use the heaters for a while.

To recap.......

After we left the upper portion of the ICW we high-tailed it to Renate & Reiner's home for a couple of days.  Nati got to show off her new decor and the four of us had a lot of laughs.  It's not often that you become friends with people that sold you a boat but we have now done that for almost 4 years!  Time is really flying by......

The old south

which way to we go?

you  think we have high water today?

the dock is almost gone!

No diving at low tide

Sunrise over the Atlantic

With that completed we motored down Adams Creek, said hi to Duff as we passed by his home and then shot out Beaufort Channel and into the Atlantic.  It sure felt good to be away from land, buoys, other boats and all the other things that the ICW gives to you.  The sailing wasn't too good but we still put 266nm under Nati's bottom and had two good nights with a full moon.  We came back inside at Charleston, SC and continued down on the inside.  The anchorages we have been to have been really nice and right now we are a mile or so north of Isle of Hope Marina where we will go tomorrow to meet up with friends, Mark & Monika for Halloween.  Oh boy.......Savannah for the witching hour.......it should be lots of fun!

Super Moon in Factory Creek