weather

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Blowin’ in the wind

The chartplotter stayed on all night so we could see the wind graph.

The chartplotter stayed on all night so we could see the wind graph.

And the answer is…

…. 42kts! (48 mph). The forecast vacillated several times, leading us to figure that the boats still on moorings in St Augustine wouldn’t have it too bad, and even at 8pm the prediction was for a max of 30mph. With typical middle-of-the-night timing, the wind reached a noisy level around 1am with that 42kts soon after. For the next 24 hours we had 23-36kts, dark skies but not really any rain. Fortunately the wind was out of the north, pushing us on the dock; much preferable to having all our lines stretched like taffy.

Stella, a British Lab waits hopefully for a playmate

Stella, a British Lab waits hopefully for a playmate

When walking became possible I used the free washer and $1 dryer- not going to pass that up. Tops on our list that afternoon was to walk across to see the wave action on the beach. Was closer to low tide than to high so the view wasn’t as dramatic as it could have been.

Looking out toward the Atlantic at Marineland

Looking out toward the Atlantic at Marineland

Checked out the gift shop at Marineland- mostly to see the aquarium residents.

Jimmy Durante fish tickles our fancy in the gift shop tank

Jimmy Durante fish tickles our fancy in the gift shop tank

Look! I found Nemo.. and his protective friend anenome

Look! I found Nemo.. and his protective friend anenome

That evening we gathered aboard Traveling Soul for happy hour. Russ made his famous fresh-baked focaccia bread; always a big hit. Ann gave us a tour of their multi-level, multi-stateroomed boat. A full-sized fridge, a huge walk-in engine room, the living room contained an L-shaped sofa, coffee table, end tables and a round glass-topped dining table. Very, very comfortable.

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Toogoodoo Creek

What a name uh? (An Indian name, but no luck on finding meaning) But it wasn’t Too Good for us looking for real wind protection that night. That morning was free laundry and provisioning at Harris Teeter. I met Denise on s/v Sloop John Dee and we exchanged weather reports. They were docked in front of us at the finger piers; we had a good chuckle at the dinghy name, “One Ringy”.  Get it? Ok, maybe not if you are too young 🙂

Like most creeks in southern South Carolina and Georgia, Toogoodoo is marsh-lined which offers minimal wind protection. Reviews promised a creek wide enough to accommodate swing room, minimal pot floats and if you went up it 2 ½ miles… voila! Tree protection. And that we did. Alone in our creek, exactly as described we settled in and watched another pretty sunset.

My view out the galley window at sunset.

My view out the galley window at sunset.

Although we heard the wind at night, we didn’t quite get the true picture until the trees stopped protecting us and wow- 22kts! From the north so it wasn’t too bad and with much of the trip to Beaufort, SC near high tide we had no depth worries through all the cuts that have become badly shoaled. Perhaps a jump outside is in order.