After having a fabulous time with our granddaughters in Charleston we headed to Fernandina Beach to spend some quality time with our youngest granddaughter, Anna. Our plan was to take Anna for a wonderful boat weekend to Cumberland Island. We would have lunch with the wild horses, hike the island, and spend a day at the beach. We also planned to squeeze in time for kayaking, and possibly tubing.
The night before our arrival at Fernandina Beach we were treated to the most spectacular sunset we have ever seen. It was the kind of sunset that just kept getting better. My first glance out the window caused me to drop dinner prep, grab the camera, and go outside…30 seconds later I realized wow it’s even better, 30 seconds later wow… by the end I had taken 27 pictures of this one sunset.
Little did we know that within a few days we would be in for a serious butt whipping!
Best laid plans…an enormous weather system forecasted to bring strong winds and heavy rain for 48+ hours, upended all plans. We were faced with the critical decision of how to handle this weather event. Any other time, we would simply move to the best protected anchorage we could find, and hunker down. However, we were scheduled to keep Anna for the weekend, as her parents were traveling out of town, and I wasn’t sure she could handle the conditions on the boat. Our choices:
1) anchor the boat in the marsh and split up for the weekend, with Keith staying on the boat, and me watching Anna at her house.
2) take Anna into the marsh with us, and everyone stay on the boat (once there we would have to ride it out as conditions would be too dangerous to transport by Whaler).
3) get a spot at the marina so we could bring Anna to the boat, but leave easily if she was scared or seasick.
After discovering that Anna was adamant that she was staying on the boat we scratched #1, and felt that #2 could scar her for life if she got stuck on the boat and was miserable. A call to the marina confirmed availability, so we went with choice #3.
In these circumstances I’m not sure there was a ‘right’ choice, but I will tell you that #3 ended up being a BAD choice. Due to high demand at the marina we ended up on the outside of the main dock, with NO protection.
For 48 hours this was the view off the port (left) side of the boat. Rough is an understatement. Do you see that wave getting ready to break a few feet out? When those types of waves broke directly against the hull it sounded like we hit a Jersey wall on the highway, and the appropriate shudder accompanied the noise. By early evening I was certain we would be dealing with a terrified 5 year old in the middle of the night, but Anna held fast that she was sleeping on the boat.
This is the starboard side of our boat, where the only thing holding off serious damage are the 8 lines keeping us in place, and the 5 fenders holding our boat off the dock. At this point it was impossible for us to safely leave the dock, so we were forced to play this hand for a VERY long time. Overnight conditions were horrendous! Keith stayed up all night to monitor our situation. At 3:30, I got up to assist him on deck (and on the dock) checking lines for chafing and adjusting fenders. At that time the wind was blowing over 30 mph and there was a steady driving rain. Our boat came through this event unscathed, however, not all boats on this dock were that lucky (as in, having people to battle Mother Nature to protect them).
And through it all, Anna slept soundly through the night…unbelievable!
The two boats tied behind us both suffered damage from the boat slamming directly into the dock when the fenders popped out. The boat directly behind us was a 30 ft. Mainship. We noticed their fenders out, during our 3:30 line check. After ensuring our lines and fenders were holding, Keith went to the two boats behind us to try to get their fenders back into position. He was able to correct the situation for the boat behind us, but the second boat back (the Grand Banks pictured here) was just too heavy to push off the dock.
I tried again at 6:00 a.m. but still couldn’t budge the boat. The wind and waves were so strong the boat was securely pinned to the dock. This boat repeatedly slammed into the dock for at least 6 hours, before enough people were available to push her off. By the time help arrived the dock was covered with fiberglass and paint chips. The owners of both boats decided to get hotel rooms across the street from the marina, because conditions onboard were too rough. Due to the fact that both boats were docked with their stern to the wind and waves, and the boats were considerably lighter than Right Hand, the motion caused by the waves was much more violent than on our boat.
Not all anchored boats fared well either. Later Friday afternoon (only 8 hours into this storm event) I noticed this boat moving through the anchorage at an odd angle to the wind. Within minutes it was grounded. Over the next 40 hours the super high tides (one was so high it floated the sailboat shown above), along with the unrelenting wind would drive this boat much farther south and much farther into the marsh.
Here was her final resting place.
Throughout the whole ordeal, Anna was a trooper! She didn’t mind the constant motion, or even the slams and shudders. She suffered no ill effects to her stomach or appetite, and she refused to leave the boat for the promise of a calmer day and night in her own bed. So, instead of all of those wonderful activities we had planned, we colored, made a fort, and built lego houses for all of the toy animals.
We had the opportunity to examine all of the items in our shell collection bowl.
She even found great entertainment in watching the happenings inside the bread machine…all of that mixing, kneading, rising, and baking…intriguing!
We did take a short walk through town each day, where unfortunately she was kidnapped by this pirate. She is quite the actress.
On a brighter note, during the week when conditions were calmer, and Anna was in school, we were able to accomplish some serious provisioning. Being at the dock, and having access to a car, made it possible for us to complete most of our provisioning for our upcoming trip to Turks & Caicos!! We probably took onboard about $1,500 worth of food this week.
Planning, prep, and finding a place to stow all of these supplies were time consuming and exhausting tasks, but now that it is done we are ready to reap the benefits.
I spent two whole days cooking and vacuum sealing meats. It is impractical to put a four pound pork shoulder in the freezer, but making pulled pork in my instant pot and vacuum sealing 7 packs uses freezer space very efficiently. The same is true for ground meats. I partially cook, then vacuum seal various portion sizes to allow for flexibility in cooking. I was able to stuff the freezers (a total of 6.5 cubic feet of space) with 160 meals worth of meat, in addition to some frozen fruits and veggies.
We will make one last provisioning stop before leaving the country (in about a week) to top up fresh fruits and veggies. Otherwise, we have enough food onboard now to easily live for 6 months.
The storm has passed, we said goodbye to our family in Florida, and we are once again heading south. The super high tides have receded and now the water seems a little low. I don’t think this crabber intended for their crabs to be exposed during low tide, but look at the beauties in that pot!
These pelicans are happy the storm has passed.
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