We Made Jacksonville!!

We made it to the St. John's River entrance and into a slip at Fort George Island Marina this afternoon.  A lot has happened since we left Coconut Grove on the 17th.  We had a great sail, but ended up motoring into Port Canaveral Saturday afternoon.  We were about 2 hours out of Port Canaveral and 2-1/2 hours from being tied up at the marina when there was a loud alarm on the boat.  I was sleeping in the cockpit with Renne' on watch when it happened.  With all that has happened to us, I came out of this deep sleep immediately and headed down the ladder to the cabin, ultimately heading for the engine.  As my head passed the radion I realized it wasn't the engine, but an alarm on the radio.  What in the world????  What we discovered was there was a Severe Weather Alert being broadcast.  We listened with interest realizing the alert was for our area!!  The next three hours, they were expecting quarter sized hail, 60-70 kt winds, ground to sky lightening.  Head for shore!!!  Get the heck out of the way of this thing.  The interesting point was there was nothing in the sky or on the radar that would indicate an issue.  So we hit the throttle, and headed into shore at a great increase of speed of .3 knots.  So we finally made port, got the boat tied up, and still not a big deal, so Renne' and I went below to take showers, fill the water tanks, secure everything that might be stolen, etc.  We got dressed and got back into the cockpit, when - Holy Smackeroooos!!  It was like night at 6pm!  The wind picked up from 10-27 kts and we realized we weren't going to dinner!  Had to secure anything that might blow away, double lined the boat down, closed all the portholes, and fixed dinner.  By the time we were done, we were in a full blown storm.  Amazing - 40 minutes from arriving, life went from dry to incredibly wet - then nothing!  huh!

That was Saturday.

Sunday, Father's Day, I had received a call from Cami, Renne' had talked to her dad, and he was heading for the boat with his lovely wife of 25 years, Wilma.  Now wilma is 86, 5'4", and 110lbs soaking wet!  Bless her heart, she got onboard to see what we have done with the boat, and she had her back to the companionway.  A canvas cover is over the opening to the companionway.  Wilma didn't realized it wasn't a seat, and she went to sit down on the canvas.  She assumed the identity of Houdini.  One second she was there, the next, she was lying on the floor of the cabin, six feet below on her back.  We were all at General Quarters.  Renne's heart stopped, I was panicked heading to give aid.  Got on the radio and called the Coast Guard for an ambulance and in 10 minutes or less, the paramedics were there.  Renne' had immediately applied ice to her back.  It took them 30 minutes to extricate her from the cabin and 6 men and women.  She was taken to the Cape Canaveral Hospital.  Five hours later, she was diagnosed with NO broken bones, NO bruises, and only pain to deal with.  Unbelieveable.  There are angels!!  They must have been lying below her to ease her fall!!  so we spent Sunday with the hospital and Monday recovering a bit. 

We left yesterday about 1300.  Beautiful day.  Nice winds, sailed for 8 hours then NO WINDS AT ALL!!  We motored for 20 hours over the last 30.  And doggone, nothing happened on this trip!!  We will leave the marina tomorrow morning for NAS Jacksonville.  It is a 25 mile motor up the St. John's River - 5 hours.  We will be there tomorrow afternoon.

The current plan is to watch the last shuttle launch.  It has been delayed until the 8th of July, so we are tentatively planning to leave about the 10th for New Bern, North Carolina. 

We have to find the Yanmar Dealer here for the 100 hour warranty oil change, the installation of the shaft saver, and we need to have the prop checked.

All for now, call us when you get to the gate tomorrow evening at the Naval Air Station we will come get you for sundowners at the docks.

Best for today,

JonNe'