Rain and Tornado Warnings!

Day 21! We left our anchorage very early. We had a long day a head of us and the weather was miserable. It rained and was difficult to see though it. Tornado warnings kept flashing across our weather station and we were anxious to get to our destination. the day before a boat had gone aground in our first inlet, real comforting. Today we passed by a boat on it's side as it had gone aground and the tide was going out. All this made us even more anxious.

Our plan was to anchor at Cumberland Island but with the weather warnings and wind speed we attempted to get on a mooring ball at Fernandina Beach. Everyone else had the same idea so we had no luck and had to go to anchor.

The wind made for chop in the anchorage and Mike had to take Skipper to shore but we both decided to stay put on our own boats. It was a very damp windy evening.















Day 22! This morning the wind was still howling and getting stronger. We had planned to go to shore and join in the tour of ruins on the Island. We had taken the tour on our last stay at Cumberland but Mike and Diane had not. After a wet ride to shore, we crossed over to the ocean side and got a break from the wind. Diane took this picture of me, Larry and Mike on the boardwalk to the beach. Larry is the brave or crazy one, depending on your view, in shorts. If you could get out of the wind the sun was quite pleasant. After a walk on the beach we joined the ranger for the tour.




















This is Skipper standing on the road. The Live Oaks make for a beautiful picture as they canopy the road.
















We were treated to sitings of many of the wild animals that live on the Island. In this picture is one of the heard of deer we saw in the woods. They are very tiny, not what we are used to seeing in NY. The food supply hear is low calorie, low fat, no farmers corn fields.















These are a few of the many horses that roam the island. They have very distended bellies due to the brackish water they drink in the marshes.

We saw several armadillos foraging for food. This little guy all but posed for us as we took his picture. The animals here are cautious but don't seem to be afraid of people.

Latter that evening we got together on our boat to watch the sun set and the planets as they aligned in the sky. This night was to be the closest together they would be and the sky was clear and they were bright. What a treat. I took a picture but the planets are so tiny I didn't think they would show up on the screen. The picture at sunset is of Express Mail, Diane and Mikes boat. You can tell by the water the wind finally stopped blowing.

Day 23! This morning we woke to sun shine and the wind was just beginning to build. We left anchor around 9:30 AM, it felt good to take our time. We traveled all of five miles to Fernandina Beach. We had made a reservation for a mooring ball for two days.

After we arrived we fueled up at the dock and went out to tie to our mooring. Mike and Diane arrived shortly after us and we all went into town to browse the shops and go to lunch. The plan was to go to the pizza shop but they didn't open until 4 PM. We went to Cafe Karibo instead and had a very good lunch. After a shower at the marina we headed out to Mike and Diane's for a cocktail, then home for the evening.

Day 24! We woke early this morning and Larry gathered the laundry and went to shore. It was a treat for me not to do the laundry this time. He returned and we had breakfast and relaxed on the boat. Diane and Mike went to shore a little later to do laundry and when they return we will all go to shore and go back into town. This time we will go to the pizza place for dinner. Tomorrow our plan is to go to St. Augustine via the ocean side. The weather is to be calm winds of 5 to 10 knots and waves less than 2 feet. Mike and Diane will be going to Jacksonville, where they will stay until after the Holiday. They plan to drive back to NJ. We'll look forward to when we meet up again.