Home Again! We Crossed Our Wake!

What an adventure! And the end was a wonderful as the other parts!

We left the Savannah Yacht Club and headed down our creek. As we got a little closer, we could see a welcoming committee on the dock. Family and friends showed up with Mimosas and a sign to welcome us home. Chris and Remy surprised us by being there too! It was so good to see everyone and to be tied up at our own dock.

Our gold "looper" flag had arrived - the one that says we completed America's Great Loop. Chris handed it up to us for the photo op. We will have it on permanent display soon. Eventually we all parked on the porch for more Mimosas and some snacks. Everyone left fairly early - I think they knew we were pooped!

Now it's back to reality... unloading the boat, doing laundry and going about all the things that land-based people do. Steve was not happy to discover that it takes $85 to fill the truck with gas! Our next project will be deciding where to live and sorting through two households of stuff! I think I would rather stay on the boat!

We have had an awesome adventure! We have seen beautiful places, learned geography firsthand and visited historic places. People always ask us what our favorite part has been. They usually mean which location was our favorite. While we do have some favorite spots, our favorite part has been the people. There is a stack of "boat cards", the boater's equivalent of a business card, in our boat. It represents most of the people we have met. Some of these people have become very good friends. Some have been "loopers" and some have not -  some have not even been boaters. They have come from all walks of life and all areas of the country. With the boaters, we have shared experiences, meals, drinks and docks. We have shared wonderful conversations. Almost everyone we met along the way has been "good people".

Many of these "good people" will be coming through Savannah and visiting our dock. We look forward to seeing them! Eventually we will get back "out there" too, but there is much to do at home first.

Thank you for joining us on our adventure. We were glad to have you along! Although we were having a blast, we knew that we had the support of our family and friends. Some of you joined us along the way, some joined us by way of the blog only. We appreciated having you with us... We love you all!

Beth, Steve and Ryder

Leaving the Savannah Yacht Club

Heading into Turner's Creek

We can see our dock from here...

Ryder is low-key about it, as usual

Approaching the dock

How many times have I done this?

We are now "Looper  Veterans"!

Family and friends waiting on the dock

Sa brought the Mimosas... thanks!

Got to talk to the grandpuppies

Sunset at our dock - home again.

The Last Leg

Not much farther to go...

King's Bay Submarine Base and St. Andrews Sound are between Fernandina and Jekyll, and I have provided what photos I could. We couldn't get very close to King's Bay and that was OK with us. There were lots of Homeland Security boats going by, and they looked like they meant business. St. Andrew's Sound was easily the worst conditions we have had during the entire trip. The wind was whipping, and there were large waves that broke over the bow and rolled us when we had to change course.We very happily pulled into the marina at Jekyll and hung out for the evening!

Yesterday (Wednesday) we cruised a long way to get to Kilkenny Marina, near Richmond Hill. We had a very nice meal with Chris Davis and his family. This morning we started home. There is a new bridge under construction at Skidaway - we didn't know if that would affect our transit. As it turns out, there was no problem at all.

We cruised past Isle of Hope, and then turned aside to stop at the Yacht Club for a couple of hours. Rebecca wants to be at the dock when we get home, and she can't leave school early. We are hanging out here so that we can show up at the correct time. I will finish up my blog tomorrow (or maybe the next day)!

The sub base

Homeland Security

White pelicans - don't see them around here often

This doesn't even begin to show how rough it was!

A dolphin boat at Jekyll

Millionaire village

This area was very shallow

Some of the small islands had areas of stone like this. The stone was ballast in ships that came here to harvest oak trees for ship-building

Coming into Kilkenny

We had an escort this morning

Bridge-building at Skidaway

Isle of Hope marina

Almost there...

Savannah Yacht Club

Jacksonville Beach and Fernandina Beach

I am writing from one of our favorite places. We are in familiar territory now and have been to Fernandina before. We left St. Augustine for a marina at Jacksonville Beach - not really close to anything. The next day we cruised to Fernandina. There were some fairly shallow spots and it was pretty windy. As we approached the dock, the wind was blowing us hard onto the dock. Steve handled it well and managed to get us there without banging hard. We watched folks later in the afternoon as they pounded their boats against it. So glad I travel with someone who knows what they are doing!

This is a very cool little town! The main streets run to the water, so it is easy to walk around and see the sights. Fernandina sits right at the border between Georgia and Florida. Right after the Revolution, Florida belonged to Spain and was by default the border between two countries. It became a haven for pirates, so there are lots of pirate references around here. Fernandina also has a really big shrimp industry. They have a Shrimp Festival each year (this year the 4, 5 & 6 of May). I found three shrimp sculptures painted by local artists. I assume there are more, but they are maybe in different areas of the island.

We browsed the shops and have eaten wonderful food here. Last night we treated ourselves to dinner at Le Clos, a fabulous French restaurant here. Today we head for Jekyll Island. We're starting to get really excited about being home with family and friends again. Just a few more blog entries and we will be home Thursday!

Leila (Sun Gypsy) waving goodbye to us at St. Augustine

Leaving St. Augustine

A good shot of the fort

A final shot of St. Augustine

Lots of fishing going on

The scenery is starting to look more like home

Coming into the marina at Jacksonville Beach

A beautiful sunset. This doesn't do the colors justice.

Passing near Jacksonville. A Navy ship in drydock.

Coming into Fernandina - a little windy and rough

Safely at the dock

The first shrimp

The old train station, now visitor's center

There are lots of neat art shops in town

We had dinner at an outdoor cafe with music. This little girl danced all night!

A koi pond along main street

I told you there were lots of pirates!

Shrimp no. 2

We met a REALLY big dog!

Mural inside the pub

Gingerbread

Shrimp no. 3

Fishing and dolphin charters going out

Fake shark photo opportunity

Le Clos