Hurricane Matthew / Back on Bazinga

Back to Brunswick, GA 10/26/16 – 11/24/16

Miles Today:  0 NM

Total Miles: 298.6 NM

“A Hurricane Hole” Have you heard that term before?  We learned about it when negotiating our boat insurance.  If we wanted to stay below latitude 31° during hurricane season, we not only faced a larger premium but the deductible went way up if we didn’t have the boat in a marina/anchorage that was designated a ‘hurricane hole’.    Brunswick is above the 31^st parallel, so we dodged the higher premium and deductibles.  However, if you want to protect your boat from hurricanes, no matter the insurance coverage, it’s smart to find a safe harbor.  Brunswick Landing Marina is considered a hurricane hole – and, boy, were we glad it is!  

There hasn’t been a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane since 2007. There we were enjoying a beautiful Colorado fall while preparing to return to Bazinga.  Enter: Hurricane Matthew.  Glued to the weather reports and hearing dire warnings that winds would top 100 mph, we hoped and prayed that Brunswick and Bazinga would be spared.  There’s also the worry of tides.  In Georgia, the tides can vary as much as 8 feet.  The floating dock to which you are tied will rise and fall 8 feet twice a day.  The cement stanchion on which the docks ride up and down is tall enough to handle this.  And it’s very nice because the dock always stays an easy step away from the boat, rather than having to use a ladder to climb up the 8 feet to get on board! But if there is a high tide and a storm surge, the dock can float right up and over the cement stanchion and away go all the boats – crunch, crunch, good-bye.

We were very lucky.  The storm hit before high tide and the wind gusts were less than 70mph.  Someone who stayed at the marina said the docks came within 2 feet of the top of the stanchions.  If the storm had hit at high tide there might have been a different ending.  A fellow boater also took a picture of Bazinga the next day and there she was looking very good and still afloat.  When we returned, the only damage was to our bike covers – they were reduced to ribbons waving in the breeze.

The floating dock moves up and down on the wood or cement stanchion, based on the tides.  Imagine the dock, with boats attached, rising to 2 feet below the top.  Scary.

Close-up of the floating dock mechanism

We had to postpone our flight during Hurricane Matthew and finally returned to Brunswick at the end of October. We were anxious to do some repairs and cosmetic fixes that the summer heat had discouraged us from tackling.  We also would decide if we wanted to go north as far as Charleston before we headed back to CO for the holidays.  As it turned out, the December and January temperatures in Charleston are a good deal colder than Brunswick.  We were unsure if we had to ‘winterize’ some of the boat systems if we left it Charleston.  So, we hung out in Brunswick.  It was a productive month - completed some boat projects, discovered some excellent restaurants (Marshside, Basil Thai, Fox's Pizza), spending time with Jim's sister and the Jax family and enjoying some sightseeing.

Hanover Park, near downtown Brunswick.  Statue is dedicated to Civil War Veterans. 

Christ Church, St. Simons Island, GA.  One of the oldest churches in GA. Worship has been continuous in Christ Church Parish since 1736.  The church was built in 1820.  After being badly damaged by Union Troops, the church was rebuilt in 1884.  Shipbuilders constructed the new church, all in wood and resembling an inverted ship's hull, denoting the ship of faith.    

Unsigned Tiffany stained glass window

Beautiful moss draped old oaks

We had someone share this map with us back in July.  The cooler weather encouraged us to
follow the route on our bikes.  We had a great ride if we didn't stop too long - the mosquitos were out in force!

Lover's Oak - flourishing since 1776

More boat projects - cleaning the shower sump pump. 

Cool enough to finally BBQ on the back deck

Brunswick Landing Marina / Home to Colorado

8/1/17 – 8/13/17

Miles Today:  0 NM

Total Miles: 298.6 NM

We got Bazinga all settled into her temporary home at Brunswick Landing Marina.  It’s a lovely marina with a wonderful staff, clean bathrooms and showers, free laundry, free pump-outs, free wifi, and a very nice clubhouse with many social events – including beer on tap 24 hours a day and free wine three evenings a week.  

Brunswick Landing Marina, Georgia

On Monday, we rented a car to drive back down to Stuart, FL (5 hours) to pick up our car and trailer from the storage lot.   We dropped off the rental car, stayed overnight at a hotel, drove our car and trailer back to Brunswick, with a one-night stop in Jacksonville to say goodbye to Jim’s sister, Donna.

We arranged for the marina’s concierge service to check the boat once a week to ensure our lines were secure, batteries were charged, bilge pumps were working.  The car was packed, the trailer was filled with empty boxes and a couple of items we had decided just weren’t worth taking up valuable storage space….our waffle iron, a dish drainer, folding chaise lounges, and a wheeled wagon to haul our laundry up the docks to the marina laundromats (we’ll use the carts that most marinas provide).  Compared to the weight we had pulled a few months before when we drove to Florida, this time the trailer was filled with air!

We set off on the 2,000 mile road trip back to CO.  We actually love road trips and enjoy the variety of terrain, towns and people.   First stop was Columbus, GA to visit Nora, our sister-in-law and Jim’s nephew and family, Buddy, Nikki, Charlie and Tori.

Then on to Chattanooga, TN for a lunch date with Jim’s nephew and wife, Billy and Holly (unfortunately, Tyler and Tristen were in school).  We enjoyed this time with the ‘Southern’ branch of our family so much and realized, once again, how fast time flies and how fun and important it is to be with family.  All the other stuff really doesn’t matter.

Bill and Holly

The Great Loop route will bring us back to Chattanooga next year.  Hopefully we’ll see everyone again and entertain them on our boat!

We passed through Nashville and headed west on I-70 through St. Louis and Kansas City.  On our “Boat Hunt” last Fall, we had traveled this same route to the East Coast in search of the perfect boat.  We had enjoyed a night of dinner and music in Nashville....

Music flows from every doorway

Food, booze and music - the trifecta

.....and a lunch at Laclede’s Landing in St. Louis.  In fact, our lovely outside lunch is a favorite story of Jim’s – and how, while he was off using the restroom, I gave away the pickle right off his plate to a friendly homeless man who had inquired, “Are you going to eat that?”  Jim’s gotten a lot of mileage retelling that particular tale.  “My pickle is gone.”  “Oh, this homeless guy came by and asked for it, so I gave it to him.”  “You did what?!”  And so it goes……

Laclede's Landing, St. Louis, MO.  Our table on the left; the Arch visible down the street.

Kansas is an interesting state.  The Eastern end is rolling hills, with trees dotting the landscape.  Lots of cattle, some oil drilling and large yards for tractor and farm equipment sales.  Huge grain silos.  Beautiful churches appear in the distance - many of French/European architecture, with gorgeous steeples and stonework.  Along the highway were small signs proclaiming support for life: “I’m a child, not a choice.” “Choose life, your parents did.”

Then come the fields and fields of sunflowers and sorghum.  Our handy smart phones helped solve, “what are those plants?”

Sorghum plants

We learned that sorghum is native to Australia.  One species is for grain production (gluten free) and others can be used for animal fodder, alcoholic beverages and biofuels.  With the gluten-free craze lately, we assume these miles and miles of sorghum will end up in Whole Foods in no time.

Signs for the Orphan Train Museum located in Concordia, KS.  What’s that?  Get out the smart phones again and learn that this was a supervised welfare program that transported orphaned and homeless children from crowded Eastern cities to foster homes in the rural areas of the Midwest from 1853 to 1929.  They relocated about 200,000 orphaned, abandoned or homeless children.

An "Orphan Train"

On our previous trip through Kansas, we had expected the flatness at the western end of the state, but were unprepared for the wind and dust, dust, dust.  At one point it was difficult to see the car 25 feet ahead. 

The sky became increasingly overcast, but it was more dust than rain clouds.  Although I got a bit concerned when I saw two vans, speeding in the opposite direction, with huge antennas and large lettering declaring they were ‘Tornado Chasers”!

Much of the dust came from farmland that had recently been plowed.  You could see the topsoil blowing wherever they hadn’t laid straw or replanted.

We recalled stories we had heard as kids about the ‘Dust Bowl’ of the 1930’s.  Severe drought and failure to apply dryland farming methods that prevents wind erosion had caused dust to blow across the plains for hundreds of miles.  Choking billows of dust named ‘black blizzards’ traveled as far as New York City.

Black Blizzard

Soon we could see the Rocky Mountains far in the distance.  We had made it back home to Colorado.   

Rocky Mountains view near our home - the white ones in the distance.
The lower mountains in the foreground are The Flatirons around Boulder, CO

Home again, home again, jiggedy jig.

We couldn’t wait for 2 glorious months of enjoying the cooler weather and playing with Sebastian in Colorado and Rowan and Silas in San Diego.

Life is very, very good.

Sebastian 

Rowan and Silas

Storytime with Pa