Now that we have Live Now safely ensconced in her Brunswick slip, we plan to hang out in the Dayton area for awhile. Periodically we will be checking on the boat, doing upgrades, etc and as the weather turns cold spend more time in Georgia.
After the storm season passes we intend to head back to Georgetown, Bahamas then follow the "Thorny Path" into the Caribbean.
With this down time, John plans to work on his budding career as an animator. Check out his first effort.
Click above for video.
'Fay' Accompli
Sitting in the airport in Houston while en route to Alaska, we watched with dismay as the CNN weather reporter described the development of Tropical Storm Fay just off Hispaniola. Repairs and the reworking of repairs to the transmission, coupled with bad weather, had forced us to leave Live Now moored in Fernandina Harbor while we traveled. Fernandina Harbor, Amelia Island, is on the Intra-coastal Waterway, 35 NM south of Brunswick where we had reserved a slip and had hoped to leave the boat. While still far to the south, the National Hurricane Center predicted that Fay may develop into a hurricane and turn northwest, putting central and northeast Florida at risk. And here we were, on our way to Alaska for our family 10 day vacation. We weren't worried, given the arbitrary and capricious nature of tropical storms, there was no way to know where it would end up and there was nothing we could do about it anyway. So, why worry? We weren't worried, really, but a little tight knot in the pit of my stomach began to grow; reminiscent of the feeling you get entering the classroom before a big test for which you're not sure you've adequately prepared. So, Pat and I told each other, repeatedly, that there was nothing to worry about. At least,not yet anyway.
Two days before, Tuesday, August 12, we had left St. Augustine (for the 3rd time) and headed north along the coast. The day was clear, the wind light and we ghosted along at 3 or 4 knots. Forecasted afternoon thunderstorms with cloud to surface lightening caused us to change our planned coastal cruise to St. Mary's and enter the St. John's River instead, heading up the protected Intra-Coastal Waterway. It was pleasant enough and the stormy weather failed to materialize. We were anxious to reach Brunswick as soon as possible to secure the boat in our slip in preparation for our trip to Alaska. Whatever time cushion we had had evaporated completely by the delayed repair work. We were scheduled to fly out of Dayton, OH, that Friday. Since we were driving from Brunswick to Ohio, we had to leave not later than Thursday morning. We picked up a mooring opposite the Fernandina Harbor Marina late in the afternoon.
The forecast for Wednesday called for severe thunderstorms and gale force winds. Rather than risk at best an uncomfortable sail up the coast or wait for a favorable tide and try to make it up the badly shoaled ICW, we elected to leave Live Now on the mooring in Fernandina Harbor. We battened the hatches, closed the seacocks, added our heaviest lines to the mooring and headed off for our Alaskan family adventure. At this point, Fay wasn't even a glimmer in the weatherforecaster's eye.
With spotty access to weather and news as we traveled the wilds of Alaska, we caught only glimpses of Fay's development as she turned northwest and headed straight for a predicted landfall near Jacksonville, just south of Amelia Island. This put Live Now in the NE quadrant of the storm, the worst possible location. Had we deliberately tried to place her to bear the brunt of the storm we couldn't have done a better job.
Tropical Storm Fay
To our telephone calls (remarkably, we were able to get through) about our boat, Kevin, dockmaster, responded with a reassuring, "Well, she's still out there bobbin' around. 'Course, we haven't seen the worst of it yet. I got three boats that broke loose and are in the marsh, but you look okay." We didn't get back to Fernandina Harbor until Thursday, August 28, but were delighted to find Live Now dry and undamaged. One of the mooring lines had frayed a bit, but she survived unscathed. Inside, the boat was a shambles but undamaged: littered with anything that hadn't been secured. It was as if we had gone to sea in rough weather. Nothing, however, was broken. Kevin said that they had seen 90 mph gusts at the height of the storm. A boat was lost off the coast and several people died from falling trees or debris. Two of the boats that had broken loose were still in the marsh; a sad reminder of what can happen.
Sunday, August 31, we started north to Brunswick, 2 months later than planned. We had 15 to 18 knot winds out of the NE, contrary to the forecasted 5-10 south winds. Shortly after noon, the Coast Guard alerted boaters that severe thunderstorms with gale force winds were forecast later in the day. All boaters were to seek shelter immediately! With several hours yet to sail (we were making slow progress with a .7 knot opposing current and head winds), we decided to lower our sails and motor the rest of the way. St. Simon's Inlet was the closest safe harbor and fortunately the entry to Brunswick. A ruler neat line of dark thunderstorms rose ominously just south of us, moving quickly in our direction. Clearly, it was going to be a close thing.
We entered St. Simon's inlet and Oglethorpe Bay still ahead of the storm but just barely. We still had 3 NM to go and it became apparent that as we had to turn SW to reach the marina in Brunswick, we would intercept the storm. Still, the sky was clear overhead. The squall line stopped just to our south. Now in the waterway, we slowed Live Now to just making headway and waited. The storm moved rapidly NW over the low lying outer banks and marshes, enveloping the Sidney Lanier Bridge momentarily as we slowly approached. Hardly a drop of rain fell on us and the wind almost died altogether. In overcast skies we found our way to the Brunswick Landing Marina, met our new neighbors, Roger, Darleen and their two Jack Russell terriers, Molly & Breeze.
Brunswick, founded in 1791, and laid out in the classic Oglethorpe grid style has a several wonderful restaurants, a great coffee house, West Marine and a couple bookstores. Once known as the "Shrimp Capital of the World" (although everyone I saw seemed of normal stature), it also boasts the Glynn County Jail, located just across the street from the marina; making it convenient for boaters visiting incarcerated relatives and friends.
Two days before, Tuesday, August 12, we had left St. Augustine (for the 3rd time) and headed north along the coast. The day was clear, the wind light and we ghosted along at 3 or 4 knots. Forecasted afternoon thunderstorms with cloud to surface lightening caused us to change our planned coastal cruise to St. Mary's and enter the St. John's River instead, heading up the protected Intra-Coastal Waterway. It was pleasant enough and the stormy weather failed to materialize. We were anxious to reach Brunswick as soon as possible to secure the boat in our slip in preparation for our trip to Alaska. Whatever time cushion we had had evaporated completely by the delayed repair work. We were scheduled to fly out of Dayton, OH, that Friday. Since we were driving from Brunswick to Ohio, we had to leave not later than Thursday morning. We picked up a mooring opposite the Fernandina Harbor Marina late in the afternoon.
The forecast for Wednesday called for severe thunderstorms and gale force winds. Rather than risk at best an uncomfortable sail up the coast or wait for a favorable tide and try to make it up the badly shoaled ICW, we elected to leave Live Now on the mooring in Fernandina Harbor. We battened the hatches, closed the seacocks, added our heaviest lines to the mooring and headed off for our Alaskan family adventure. At this point, Fay wasn't even a glimmer in the weatherforecaster's eye.
With spotty access to weather and news as we traveled the wilds of Alaska, we caught only glimpses of Fay's development as she turned northwest and headed straight for a predicted landfall near Jacksonville, just south of Amelia Island. This put Live Now in the NE quadrant of the storm, the worst possible location. Had we deliberately tried to place her to bear the brunt of the storm we couldn't have done a better job.
Tropical Storm Fay
To our telephone calls (remarkably, we were able to get through) about our boat, Kevin, dockmaster, responded with a reassuring, "Well, she's still out there bobbin' around. 'Course, we haven't seen the worst of it yet. I got three boats that broke loose and are in the marsh, but you look okay." We didn't get back to Fernandina Harbor until Thursday, August 28, but were delighted to find Live Now dry and undamaged. One of the mooring lines had frayed a bit, but she survived unscathed. Inside, the boat was a shambles but undamaged: littered with anything that hadn't been secured. It was as if we had gone to sea in rough weather. Nothing, however, was broken. Kevin said that they had seen 90 mph gusts at the height of the storm. A boat was lost off the coast and several people died from falling trees or debris. Two of the boats that had broken loose were still in the marsh; a sad reminder of what can happen.
Sunday, August 31, we started north to Brunswick, 2 months later than planned. We had 15 to 18 knot winds out of the NE, contrary to the forecasted 5-10 south winds. Shortly after noon, the Coast Guard alerted boaters that severe thunderstorms with gale force winds were forecast later in the day. All boaters were to seek shelter immediately! With several hours yet to sail (we were making slow progress with a .7 knot opposing current and head winds), we decided to lower our sails and motor the rest of the way. St. Simon's Inlet was the closest safe harbor and fortunately the entry to Brunswick. A ruler neat line of dark thunderstorms rose ominously just south of us, moving quickly in our direction. Clearly, it was going to be a close thing.
We entered St. Simon's inlet and Oglethorpe Bay still ahead of the storm but just barely. We still had 3 NM to go and it became apparent that as we had to turn SW to reach the marina in Brunswick, we would intercept the storm. Still, the sky was clear overhead. The squall line stopped just to our south. Now in the waterway, we slowed Live Now to just making headway and waited. The storm moved rapidly NW over the low lying outer banks and marshes, enveloping the Sidney Lanier Bridge momentarily as we slowly approached. Hardly a drop of rain fell on us and the wind almost died altogether. In overcast skies we found our way to the Brunswick Landing Marina, met our new neighbors, Roger, Darleen and their two Jack Russell terriers, Molly & Breeze.
Brunswick, founded in 1791, and laid out in the classic Oglethorpe grid style has a several wonderful restaurants, a great coffee house, West Marine and a couple bookstores. Once known as the "Shrimp Capital of the World" (although everyone I saw seemed of normal stature), it also boasts the Glynn County Jail, located just across the street from the marina; making it convenient for boaters visiting incarcerated relatives and friends.
Boats Aground After Tropical Storm Fay
Three sailboats near us broke their mooring lines and washed up in the marsh in Fernandina Harbor
Orca
We spotted 4 Orca shortly after we entered Prince William Sound. The Orca were feeding on silver salmon.
Aska About Alaska!
Hey everyone! We just got back from our awesome "Christmas in August" trip to the 49th state of Alaska. Among the brave explorers were John and Pat Hambrick, their son Brad, Brian, with his wife Liz, their daughter Kris and her husband Sean, and Sean's parents Mike and Kathryn. We all touched down in Anchorage, and stayed the first three nights at the "Aawsome Retreat", a very stylish house full of interesting and unusual decorations, and situated on a hill giving an incredible view of Anchorage. The moose were everywhere! We toured the coastline, and chartered a small boat in Whittier to take us around Prince William Sound. I think the two boat captains were just as amazed at the sights as we were! together we saw a bird rookery, and colony of sea lions (man they were noisy), and got right up next to a glacier. The next day, we took the Alaska Railway up to Denali, where the weather couldn't have been better (up into the upper 60's at one point), and the views of Mt. Mckinley couldn't have been clearer. Nearly every turn of the tour bus through the park brought sight of grizzly bear, caribou or Dahl's sheep. All in all, a very successful expedition into the wild!
(Submitted by Brad)
P.S. Even though John and Pat flew from Alaska to Dayton just days before McCain announced , in Dayton, his selection of Alaska's governor, Sarah Palin, as his VP running mate, they did not consult with, advise or play any role in that decision.
(Submitted by Brad)
P.S. Even though John and Pat flew from Alaska to Dayton just days before McCain announced , in Dayton, his selection of Alaska's governor, Sarah Palin, as his VP running mate, they did not consult with, advise or play any role in that decision.
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