MAY 9, 2007...Amelia Island...wind, rain and fire

We were up early (at least for this crew) and away by 8:10am. Now when I say for this crew, you have to realize we were the last boat to leave. The marina came alive at about 6:00am and boats started pulling out.

WIND, RAIN AND FIRE best decribes our day. We awoke to smoke so thick that it burned your eyes, and it followed us for the next 30 miles. Add to this some rain, and we had to use the radar to find the bouys and stay on course. Mary Lou backed up the GPS with paper charts and kept us in the right channel all morning. It was mostly swamp and flat, and it is hard to find the turns and channels. She didn't miss a bouy.

Now throw in a little wind. The morning was pretty smooth and we able to get underway with no problem. The inlet to St. Augustine was a little rough but when we got in the ICW it is narrow and smooth. The only areas where it is rough is the inlets or wide bodies of water.

We stopped at Jax.Beach and put on fuel and finally got a much needed pump-out. We had planned to stay here, but they are building a new bridge and the pile driving noise was too much. So we headed for Amelia Island...30 miles and 2 hour run.

We are Amelia Island Yacht basin, a well protected cove off the ICW. Great marina and facilities. Docking was fun with the tide and wind and tight area. However, with a well seasoned crew and captain we made it on the first past. We are snug as bugs in a rug. We have a 60 foot Hatteres next to us breakng what wind there is.

The marina has a courtesy van which we signed out and went to the town of Ferendina. It is a minature Savanah or Charleston with old homes and shops. It is a little more upscale than George Street in St. Augustine. We were able to find some cute items, and more important an ice cream store.

We learned the storm has now been upgraded to a tropical storm and given a name...Andria. It is the first of the season and is 4 weeks early. It is slowly moving south and since we are going north the worst is probably past. It has dropped a lot of rain on the coast, but not inland where the fires are. The main problem continues to be the wind. It may keep us in port Friday! If you are following the PGA tour, you are getting our weather report. We are just north of Jacksonville.

The picture show the narrow channel back to the Amelia Island marina off the ICW. It makes a tough entry, but also protects the marina from high winds...something we appreciate.