So we left off the last blog having just arrived in Saint Mary's. We went to the oyster bake, and tried oysters for the first time. I was okay with them, although the mess didn't really seem worth it. Serena was unimpressed. But we did have fun hanging out with all the cruisers, and drinking cheap 2 for 1 beer. The Riverview hotel here really goes out of their way to welcome cruisers.
The thanksgiving dinner was excellent. Good food and good friends. Our friend Kim called our table the "kids table", as the six of us were definitely among the youngest at the dinner. All of our ages falling between 35 and 49.
We managed to get some things done, but at the cost of our tired feet and legs. In 4 days we walked 22 miles, to the bank machine, for laundry, for food and beer, for propane, and boat parts. We still need to find a good grocery store as we are starting to get low on some of the staples, fresh fruits and vegetables, yogurt, munchies, etc...
The weather hadn't been all that good until a couple of days ago. So nothing really exciting happened until we made the short 5 mile trip over to Cumberland Island. Now we are back in Saint Mary's for a couple of days, and the weather is beautiful. We received the parts for our engine, and this morning I put a new seal in our engine raw water pump to stop the leaking. I also rebedded the forward hatch that has been soaking the bathroom every time it rains. Serena stayed below tearing apart and cleaning the entire salon area. It seems we have finally managed to grow our first mold farm. We've heard that it is a constant problem on a boat, but until now we have been lucky. The good news is that it wasn't bad yet, and Serena managed to get rid of it. I guess we are going to have to be a little more diligent with our spring cleaning. Which, in a house, happens ever spring, and on a boat happens ever 4 or 5 weeks.
Our first alligator. Mind you this one isn't going to scare anyone. It is part of the display for the Saint Mary's Visitor Center, and made of plastic I think.
Pizza. Serena makes a killer pizza, and it is quickly becoming a staple aboard Vita.
Cumberland Island. And all these freaky looking trees are oaks. Not like any oaks we have at home.
This is Dungeness. An estate that was originally built on the island way back in the 1800s, and after being destroyed by fire, was rebuilt a few years later, only to be destroyed by fire again. Maybe somebody's trying to tell them something. There is a sorted history that goes along with this place, but I couldn't even begin to cover it here. Suffice to say, if you ever make it down here, this is a must see.
The trails are even freakier looking. See Jurassic park!!
The eastern side of the island borders on the Atlantic Ocean, and has some of the biggest and most beautiful sand dunes we have ever seen.
Fixer upper anyone?
Now this is a beach. To bad the water is so darn cold.
The island is also home to a bunch of ferral horses. We got our first glimpse of them out on the beach. We got pretty close to them, but this stallion made it clear that he wasn't entirely happy with our presence. Mind you, he didn't go anywhere. We finally decided to leave him along and let him eat.
We had no map of the island, so we were kind of stumbling around based on a look at a map from several days before. It was fun, as we stumbled across things that we didn't know were even there. Like this boardwalk in the middle of nowhere. There were geckos all over sunning themselves. The little guy above was caught by the tail. No worries, the big mean human didn't harm him.
We walked out of a wooded area into this desolate area with sand and dead trees. Neat, but more freaky.
We eventually ended up back at the Dungeness ruins. The tide had gone out, so it gave us access to the area where we could dig for sharks teeth in the tailings from when they dredged the entrance to the ocean.
I would say poor stranded jelly fish, but I'm not a big fan of them.
Above, these little crabs were everywhere, scurrying around. Below, lots of them.
We spent about 2 hours digging for sharks teeth, and we left with one black one. Oh well, better luck next time.
We even got to see a bambie while we wandered through the trails on our way back to the dock where our dinghy was tied.
Yep, gnarly trees. Cool, but definitely gnarly and freaky!!
A week and a half we've been here. Bad weather, broken boat, sight seeing, friends, and parties. Its time to move on. People jokingly say there is a vortex at Saint Mary's that is difficult to escape. We'll see how it goes tomorrow morning, cross fingers, knock on wood.
Onward and southward.
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