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| Morning entertainment--sailing classes for the kids... |
BRUNSWICK: Well, we've entered a new phase of our cruising life. Committing to a marina for a month is different from being on the move. Days are a little more boring (and it costs more!) The idea is to get some projects done while we're sitting (and run the A/C!), so I'll skip the daily details and give you the highlights. (You can fill in the daily routine: Coffee in the cockpit with Amelia watching the sunrise while the Captain sleeps in. A walk or bike ride in the morning while it's cooler, usually involving an errand--grocery store, hardware store, liquor store, West Marine! Back to the boat by lunch. Chores, lounge, read. Move to the clubhouse to watch the Tour de France. Dinner on the boat. Amelia's mid-evening nap in the cockpit. Evening chores of dishes, laundry or showers. TV marathon of Lost, Big Bang Theory, Walking Dead or a movie.) The upside is having a regular exercise routine and not wondering about the next grocery/laundry stop.
It's still cheaper than living in a house. We paid $432 for the month and approximately $60 for metered electric (home mortgage $1000)--that includes wifi (at our house $55), trash ($11), water ($23) and gas ($65)--propane grills provided on dock. Cruising expense of laundry is included which has been about $35/month and no boat fuel used. No car payment/insurance/gas ($150+). That's approximately an $872/month savings over life in our house (boat is paid for). I haven't cut down our grocery bill much and we still each out twice a week but our travel budget is $0!
The Brunswick area is known for the golf courses in St Simons, Jekyll Island, shrimping, RORO (one of the largest ports for cargo ships importing vehicles that "roll on, roll off"), the papermill, being a hurricane hole, and a top-rated liveaboard marina with $1.50/ft transient rates (cheaper by the month).
Day 1: With air conditioning, no anchor to check and nowhere to be, we sleep in to 7:30 am. We lounge over coffee, breakfast and INTERNET! Finally, The Captain heads to WalMart on one of the courtesy bicycles while I catch up on internet SHOPPING and business. Later in the afternoon, we decided to run errands together--OK, Pam Pam Cupcakes for a GF carrot cake, no icing and the liquor store (Captain Morgan Blend --because they don't have Kraken--& Kahlua. "I could put some in my coffee.") We've gone from government regulated ABC stores in the Carolinas (limited locations and hours) to drive-thru liquor stores. Wow.
Wildlife report: While the kids were taking sailing dinghy lessons today, one of the instructors fished a jellyfish out of the water next to our dock. We also saw our first turtle. He had a crab in his mouth that got away and he had to dive back down for it.
The Captain asked, "What will you blog about if we stay here for a month?" Good question. Maybe nothing, except turtles and cupcakes ;-) Pasta Primavera for dinner (this will become the new staple).
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| Gonna sleep better while anchored out now! Our new Mantus... |
Day 2: We officially sign up to stay for a month at the marina. Captain heads out on the bicycle for an eye exam. First Mate maps out a 4 mile walk (that happens to pass the Winn Dixie grocery store). Our new #44 Mantus anchor arrives (Captain moves our #36 Manson to the port side to be our secondary anchor. Waiting on new length of chain).
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| Sunrise at our new slip |
Day 3: We moved off the transient dock to a slip on dock 6. The marina has 16 docks. The good news is we are closer to the clubhouse. The bad news is we are farther from the bathrooms and downtown, but we don't mind the exercise (just the heat!) The Captain discovers one of the TV's in the clubhouse has DVR so he sets up a season pass for The Tour de France! Dinner at Fox's Pizza Den (which has gluten-free pizza and The Captain's new favorite--calzones). I'm gonna like it here. Note: it storms every evening at 5:00 pm. Just work that into your day.
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| Laying in the middle of the cockpit allows her to keep tabs on everyone. Annoying. |
Day 4: The cat has a new routine. She waits by the companionway in the morning so she can go outside for a nap (sometimes she won't even wait for me to make my coffee). The Captain wakes up and tells me he has a terrible toothache and aspirin isn't helping. I do a quick google and hand him clove essential oil on a cotton swab. He looks at me like I'm nuts but tries it anyway (that's how much pain he was in). At 8:00 am, I try to call the nearest dentist, but they're closed on Fridays so I start going down the list. I finally get him an appointment at 1:30 and he takes off on the bicycle to buy some orajel. It turns out it doesn't work any better, so he mixes it with the clove and admits it's just as effective. (I took a lot of crap when I packed that giant ziploc full of essential oils!)
He heads off for his appointment and I decide to check out the library (not much of a magazine selection and wifi doesn't work) and adjacent coffee shop ($1.89 for an excellent cold-brew coffee). The Captain comes back with antibiotics and painkillers but the dentist didn't even look in his mouth since he has crowns, so he refers him to a specialist. We walk up and watch today's stage of the Tour before he goes down for his afternoon nap.
Day 5 Sat: Still no word from the canvas shop, so we order a Sailrite sewing machine (See "Fabricating" a main sail cover or "The Captain sews")
Sun July 12: Captain still has a toothache and it's starting to wear him down. His lymph node is swollen and it looks like somebody punched him in the jaw. If he sneezes, he doubles over. Not good. We spend the day reading, watching the Tour and napping. It's HOT, even with the a/c on. I cut up a cooler to insulate ports/hatches (Can I borrow your knife? "Look at you making stuff!")
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| Sunset off the end of our dock |
July 13 Mon: I got the Captain an appointment at the specialist at 1:00 pm. (Finally. Amoxicillin doesn't work on him and the Hydrocodone made him queasy.) On the way over, somebody hit him while he was riding a bicycle! Now he has a scraped knee & elbow to top it off--and some new prescriptions. He's bummed he's not getting anything done and hates it when I leave to walk into town without him.
A new friend at the marina is learning to sail and starting to do small sewing projects for other boaters. We took a morning walk so I can teach her all the names of things that need canvas. We'll be making regular trips to Joann's together.
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| Sunrise from the trampoline |
Captain feeling better (we have talked about how swollen his jaw his, so that's a good sign). We went out for breakfast. Bicycle parts show up so he's outside taking things apart. We meet Larry from Bequia Chief who's making bungs for his teak deck (you read that right--MAKING the bungs from teak strips--there's 600 on his boat!) SailRite shows up--"At least it's high tide." The girls at the marina have learned our names--"Dang! You get a lot of packages!"
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