Fernandina Beach > Wahoo River > Thunderbolt

After two electricians worked on Virginia Dare (Port Canaveral and Fernandina Beach), we are still plagued by a baffling mystery <sigh>  We're now tucked into Hinckley Yacht Services in Thunderbolt, Georgia, where an electrician greeted us when we arrived late yesterday afternoon.

Scenes from the last few days:

This poor guy is missing his left rear leg.  After watching him for an hour, I took him to the bushes near the marina (yes, that is a drop of bug poo by his leg).

After the second round of electricians fixed our issue, we celebrated.  Turns out, we jumped the gun :(  Problem not yet solved.

Motoring north in flat calm

As we creep north at 7 kts, planes zip past :)

David estimates this bonito weighed 15 pounds.  It put up quite a fight before being released back to the ocean.

Storms to our south

HUNDREDS of these jellyfish were bobbing in the ocean.  We saw lots of turtles here, too.  As we learned at the Sea Turtle Center in Florida, turtles love to eat jellyfish.

And rays must like them, too!

And away he goes!

Anchored in the very peaceful Wahoo River on Wednesday night.  Storms skirted us.

Heading north on Thursday in the ICW.  The tide prevented us from getting back to the ocean.

Brackish water of the ICW -- mixture of salt and fresh water.  The dolphins seem to love it.

We skirted the storms on Thursday as well!

Rain off our stern in the Isle of Hope, GA.

Osprey nest as we neared Thunderbolt.

Port Canaveral > Ponce de Leon > Fernandina Beach

After leaving Port Canaveral, we anchored out two nights (no wifi) before arriving in Fernandina Beach yesterday evening.  Here is a visual summary of our past few days.

On Friday morning, we waited for two cruise ships to enter Port Canaveral before we could leave. Lots of fishing boats queued up ahead of us.  They obviously know the drill.

Calm wind. Motoring north.

When we're motoring, we hang out under the shade of the bimini.  Auto pilot keeps us on course.

These yellow buoys mark the NASA restricted space (where rocket debris may fall).

Sugar cane fields burning in the distance.

Our welcome "committee" to Ponce de Leon inlet.

Sunset from our anchorage on Rockhouse Creek.

Leaving Ponce de Leon inlet on Saturday morning.......if you need bait or ice, they're your guys!

Army Corps of Engineers entering Ponce de Leon channel as we exited.

Lighthouse in the morning sun

Redneck'n is the name of their boat -- hahahahaha!

We caught eight bonito on Saturday.......and let them all go.  We were hoping for some tasty "dinner" fish.

Sunset Saturday night from our anchorage just north of Saint Augustine on the Tolomato River.

Saint Augustine in the Sunday morning light.

The channel to/from the ocean is narrow and tricky. 

Sunday was another calm day so we motored once again.

We didn't catch a single fish on Sunday.  This algae bloom might have been the reason.  We sliced through lots of it. Ick.

At St. John's channel (port of Jacksonville), we yielded to this freighter.......

.......and this floating casino.

The birds are conditioned like Pavlov's dog when they see a shrimp boat.

We entered St. Mary's channel at midpoint.  This is the entrance to Cumberland Sound.  Kings Bay submarine station is just north of here.  

They don't look very bright in this photo, but the blinking range markers could be seen for MILES out to sea.  If you line up the two markers when entering from the ocean, you will travel straight in the channel.  When this was taken, we had just turned south toward our marina at Fernandina Beach.

Fort Clinch

Lots of shrimp boats in this neck of the woods.

The copper cupola on this house was glistening in the sun.

One of two paper plants on the river.

This shrimp boat wasn't so lucky navigating the river.

Familiar sight along the river.

South of the marina are more shrimp boats and the other paper plant.

We're hanging out in Fernandina Beach for a few nights before continuing north.

Man O War to Port Canaveral

I'm falling a little behind on the blog.  Scenes from our trip from the Bahamas back to the U.S. last weekend:

Final sunset from Man O War

Remnants from the bird's nest that we found IN(!) our boom on Saturday morning before departure. Unfortunately, three eggs perished when David pulled the nest out with a coat hanger.

Sunrise over Man O War as we left on Saturday morning

Exiting the Sea of Abaco at North Man O War Cut (which leads to the Atlantic Ocean).  You can see waves breaking on the reef if you look closely on the left side of the photo.  

Gorgeous day and excellent wind for sailing

Best day of sailing since we moved aboard Virginia Dare.  Sails up from 7am until 2am.

The captain is content.

Standing in the cockpit looking over the dodger to the deep blue sea

Saturday night sunset

This bird tried very hard to land on the boat for a rest.  Mission not accomplished.  We didn't shoo him away; he apparently couldn't find the right spot.

Sunday night sunset

We saw three whales at the surface on Sunday morning.  Not sure if they were Bryde's whales or something else.  Their dorsal fins were very "hooked."  Anyone?

It's not every day that you see a submarine lurking in the distance!  This is just off the coast at Port Canaveral.

Two blue tugboats ready to escort the sub into the channel

The submarine entered East Basin, immediately inside the channel

We look forward to heading north to Ponce de Leon Inlet tomorrow morning after the Disney cruise ship arrives in port at 05:30 (gah!) and before the next ship arrives at 07:00.