23Feb2013

Well Folks, latitudes and attitudes. I am down to shorts and a white shirt, my cruising uniform. It won't last, but it will be rum on the foredeck tonight. (If one of the frequent showers don't come by) The forecast for today ended up being for showers, south wind, and warm. (Oxford comma?) It happened just like that, and I have had a productive day.
  I made it to St Simons entrance at 16:00, right on schedule. This area off lower South Carolina and Georgia is what Will calls a "low energy" coastline. It has a mild surf and very high range tides. Compare that to Cape Hatteras where the ocean is violent with only a foot or so tides. The ocean in this area is also shallow way far out. Way out. Years ago Will and I were going in at Port Royal, SC and we had breakers (shallow water) far out of sight of land. The entrance channel is maybe 15 miles long. The entrance to St Simon is only about 8 nm long, and then there is another 4 nm into the anchorage. I did not have an opposing current so I made it in just about the time to turn the running lights on, and anchored exactly where Jeremiah and I anchored a few years ago when we stopped to see Marian's cousin. It is comfortable here, and right next to a marina where, tomorrow, I can buy transmission fluid. That's right. The 30 year old transmission has started dripping fluid from where the shift lever enters the housing. Not serious unless it gets much worse, and I will buy a lifetime supply tomorrow.
  Weather forecasts have been changeable, to say the least. Tomorrow morning I will decide whether to keep moving south or stay comfortable another day.
  The Bahamas sure do seem a long way away.
Bill