Really blowing today and rainy. We decided to head for Fernandina Beach, and it's a good thing we did. By afternoon, the wind was blowing 25-30 knots and the waves were really getting big. Sometimes, an especially fierce wave would wash right over the deck. One huge wave hit us broadside, flooded the cockpit, and even went through the closed (but not locked) porthole in the aft cabin, drenching the bed and Roy's clothes. It made such a loud crash that Roy thought we'd hit a buoy, and he came rushing up from the main cabin to bawl me out for not watching where we were going. He was greatly relieved when he found out it was just a wave.
We were doing 30-30's and better. A couple of times, we went over to fifty degrees! Roy and I were hanging on for dear life, but Jofian took it all in stride. What a good boat!
I came closer to getting seasick than I have in a long time, but I took an extra Dramamine and slept for an hour. Woke up feeling great.
The older of the two GPS's quit working altogether, but the other one took us directly to the St. Mary's Channel entrance buoy. Were we ever glad to see that!
The entrance channel to Fernandina Beach is ten miles long! We first spotted the outer buoy at twenty to eleven a.m. By the time we got to the harbor, it was four o'clock! Roy had had to do most of the steering; I couldn't deal with it. Going up the channel, we were broadside to the waves, which made steering difficult.
The radar worked intermittently. Fortunately, it worked at the most crucial moment, when we were trying to locate the first set of channel markers from the entrance buoy. They were considerably north of where we expected them to be. In the limited visibility, we might not have found them without the radar. The radar continued to guide us down the channel for a while. Then it went off, but we could see the next set of markers, so that was okay. From time to time, the radar worked again and then went off again.
Arrived in Fernandina in drenching rain and frigid gale winds. Welcome to warm, sunny Florida!
There are two marinas here, but they can't handle boats that draw more than 4 feet, so we anchored out. We're very glad we have the new diesel heater. It kept us snugly and also dried the bedclothes. Boy, what a relief to be at anchor in a safe harbor! It's hard to believe we're in Florida already.
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