March 14-28, 2019 THE MARINA AT ORTEGA LANDING, FL TO THE WACCAMAW RIVER, SC

A look back at…March 14, 2019 The Marina at Ortega Landing, Jacksonville, FL
     This leg of the trip north has hinged around today…March 14, 2019. This is the day that the Opera House in Stonington, ME hosted the stage presentations of 23 SeaTimes oral history stories. My former student Amanda is spearheading a revival of those true tales collected from 1986-1996 by the 8th grade English/Social Studies students at Deer Isle-Stonington Jr./Sr. High School. Amanda called me in December to discuss the possibilities of a night of “Winter Stories” shared by family or friends of the original interviewees. What a great idea! Later she offered to FACE TIME the 2-hour event through her iPhone. Ikes! That’s pretty high tech for us. We promised to do our best… so we are staying at The Marina at Ortega Landing in Jacksonville, FL to be sure of a dependable, strong internet connection. It worked perfectly with Amanda’s iPhone to our iPad. From 7-9 pm, the participants brought to life the 1920’s,’30’s and ’40’s on Deer Isle. For those two hours, it felt like Wally and I were in the Opera House as those readings and projected family photos played to a packed house. Bravo Director Amanda and your cast and crew!! Can’t wait to see more of the nearly 300 SeaTimes stories in the upcoming summer production. We hope to be there in person.

March 15, 2019 Amelia Island Marina and Fernandina Beach, FL

     We continued our connection to Maine Coast friends by visiting with Brooklin, ME friends now living their winters in northern FL. After docking SUMMERTIME at the Amelia Island Marina, it wasn’t long before Paul came on board and it was like “Old Home Week”. He “taxied” us to his vintage home where Jane and a school chum were enjoying conversations on the front porch. Since Paul had spent the past four years restoring and upgrading his downtown Fernandina Beach abode, it was time for the tour through the house…lovely! We five had a relaxing walk through the historic district with its shops, eateries and other water-side establishments. Back home it was time for the next-door neighbor to join us for an elegant meal and more robust conversation. These kinds of re-connections are why we like the cruising life-style so much!

March 16-28, 2019 Brunswick Landing and Thunderbolt/Savannah, GA; Beaufort and Isle of Palms, SC

After taking time to soak in our memories of Brunswick and Savannah, GA, we booked in a 4-day stay at the Downtown Marina of Beaufort (pronounced BEW-fort), SC. My sister and her husband had wintered their boat WHIT’S END there and we were given a face dock space just off her bow. Val and Rick drove down from Myrtle Beach for a long week-end. We had a great time making progress on their boat projects and eating home-cooked meals in each other’s boats. While in the laundry room on our last day at the marina, a fellow trawler couple were surprised to learn that we were planning to anchor for the next three or four nights as we headed up the ICW. Bill and Jackie suggested we re-check the upcoming weather. Sure enough. “Predictwind” had bright red swatches along our route showing that in two days we would be experiencing gale force winds of 25 to 35 mph. That brought us up short! Thanks to the cautionary words of our new cruising friends, we changed our plans. We used the fair weather of the following day to high-tail it for 10 hours and gained 80 miles… creating a record for time and distance for us! We hot-footed it across serene Charleston Harbor, famous for winds and cross/currents, and found a safe haven a bit further north at Isle of Palms. We chose to stay put in the marina there for 3 nights… wise decision on our part. We walked the beach in the lull before the storm and witnessed the Atlantic Ocean amidst its fury during the storm. We were happy to be tucked inside our trawler, safe and sound. Wally worked away in our tax report to the IRS and I began mixing my acrylic paints. The “barns and pastures” painting that I started in Ft. Myers needed some bare-branched trees in the foreground. For inspiration I am using a photo taken by my artist/instructor Barb. She captured the scene early one morning in Arundel, Maine as she drove to work along a country road. My barns did not turn out to be those barns, but my sky, clouds, pasture, trees and roadway disappearing around a distant bend are close enough. I have really enjoyed putting my right brain into action.

Thunderbolt Marina

Got to love Savanah humor!

Savanah is a town of "pocket parks"

Bonaventure Cemetery famous from the book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"

Darcy's "Barns and Pasture"

March 29, 2019 The Waccamaw River and Grande Dunes Marina, Myrtle Beach


It has been 3 years since we traveled the ICW in Georgia and South Carolina. It was March 2016 and we were just beginning The Great Loop. While spending so much time in Florida since then, we’d forgotten a few things about these waters. There is A LOT of marshland alone the coasts of GA and SC. The tides rise and fall SIGNIFICANTLY more than in FL… up to 8 ft in some places. As a result of the tides, the current’s pull is VERY STRONG. It sweeps our 8 mph trawler along at 9-12 mph at times, or slows us down to 4-6 mph. The current also causes us anxiety when we go to land at a marina. We’ve been directed to anchor out and wait until slack tide before entering certain marinas. Now that we are more seasoned, when the weather is good we cruise from sunrise until four o’clock… 8 or 9 hours…then it’s time for an adult beverage… then it’s time for supper. We look back at our cruising records and discovered that in our early days, 4 hours was a long day! We love the backwater hideaway anchorages. We dropped the hook in Thorofare Creek just off the delightful Waccamaw River last night… what a piece of heaven! Tonight we will be back with family Val and Rick at their home in Myrtle Beach. They have received our monthly delivery of mail. Val has also shopped on our behalf for some necessary items,…bless you, Sis! Rumor has it that corned beef and cabbage are in the slow cooker and homemade blueberry-strawberry ice cream will top off tonight’s meal. How can you beat that!?!

THE ST. JOHNS RIVER CRUISE; MARCH 1-MARCH 11, 2019 JACKSONVILLE TO HONTOON ISLAND STATE PARK AND BACK

Navigational Channel Marker

The ever-present, but not easily seen, trap buoy

Range Marker

Live-a-board barge in Murphy's Creek

Our anchorage in Murphy's Creek

Always close to the water, we have to have all RR bridges open for us to pass

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This mural was special to me, Wally, as both my father and I worked for Hudson Pulp and Paper in Augusta, Maine.
It was the start of my career in the paper industry and it was my father's life-long job

Palatka is “The City of Murals”. Completed about twenty years ago, this collection of 24 depicts the historical, cultural and natural riches of Palatka and Putnam County, Florida. More citified than most of the smaller river communities including Welaka, Georgetown and Astor, this Putnam County Seat has been a transportation hub on the river for centuries. Palatka was originally named Pilotaikita, a Seminole word for “boat crossing”.

If it hadn’t been for hundreds of fancy pick-up trucks and bass boat trailers filling up the many parking lots of otherwise sleepy Palatka on Saturday, we would not have guessed that a prestigious day-long bass fishing tournament was underway. As the day came to an end, the fishermen returned to the city dock and ramp at top speed. With smooth accuracy, they loaded their glitzy boats on their matching trailers, then hustled off to weigh in their prize catch. It was quite a sight to behold!


Welaka, an “Old Florida” village, was special for two reasons. First, it is the home of Shrimp ‘R Us and More Restaurant where plump juicy shrimp reign supreme. Second, it is the home of the Welaka National Fish Hatchery and Aquarium inviting the public to see, close up and personal, the fish that thrive in the St. Johns River System. Since the town dock slips were made for smaller boats, we chose an anchorage across the river and rode our dinghy in. Happily, after a stroll under the Spanish moss-festooned live oaks, we found both attractions across the street from each other. We moved SUMMERTIME upriver to be near the Ocklawaha River as it entered the St. Johns River. The variety of bird life along that river’s edge was amazing...bald eagles and ospreys, comorants and anhingas, ibises, herrings and egrets.

Nesting ospreys build on the day marker pilings 

We explored the Ocklawaha River from the dinghy before we settled down for the night.

Spider Lily, a jewel in the Ocklawaha River

Anhinga,"snake bird", drying it's wings

Alligator and Turtle sunning on a log

Crystal clear water and 72 degrees year-a-round

We had a bumpy night anchored outside of the spring in 20mph winds.

Some pictures of "Old Florida" along the River

Hontoon Island State Park was delightful.  We hiked the many well-groomed trails, one leading to a centuries-old shell midden. Around us at the dock we discovered the 6th Annual C-Brats Rendezvous underway. This organization of C-Dory owners cruise in 16 to 26 foot trailerable boats. They invited us to join them for a pot-luck supper and fireside chat. It was very apparent that these folks had a true camping spirit.  Long-time “volunteer” friends drove over from their winter home in Lady Lake, Florida. After they crossed the river on the park’s pontoon shuttle boat, we enjoyed lunch and “catch-up chat” on board SUMMERTIME… great fun. The guys and gals from Stetson College, rowing on their respective 8-person teams, began practice in the early morning mist in the river next to our boat. It was fun to hear the Deland, Florida students being coached to become “one with their vessel”. 

A C-Brat Rendevoux

Evening campfire with the C-Brats

Long time volunteering friends, Robert and Betsy

On our final morning upriver, we lowered our dinghy and headed for nearby Blue Springs State Park…a favorite clear water hang-out for manatees. Alas! We found no place to beach or tie up our 10-foot craft. The long dock and the beach area were roped off… no access to local boats. Only visitors arriving from the roadway or aboard tour boats were allowed that privilege. Quite a disappointment! Our trip back to the boat was made special, however, when we rounded a curve to find a dinghy-long alligator lazing in the ruddy-brown river water just off our bow. Now that did make our day!  

Invasive water hyacinth have built up along the rivers edge and choke access to the land. The locals try to control this growth with water hyacinth "fences".