Ortega River Marina...Getting Ready to Move On

Day #193; Loop Miles to Date = 2,256

The wind has finally stopped blowing! We've had about 5 days straight of windy days out of the Northeast, and while it wouldn't have been impossible to be traveling, we are happy that our plan was to be tethered to the dock anyway. We are still at the Ortega River Marina near Jacksonville, and this has been a great stop.

Sandy was able to make the journey to Atlanta last week, knocking some items off of her to-do list, and also had a great time catching up with girlfriends who all got together for a dinner party. Rob stayed "home" with the pups and tackled a few miscellaneous boat projects.

 

Sandy and her crew of work friends...friend Trina is hiding...

There's Trina...hiding out.

Comfy chair, beautiful blanket...best seat in the house!

Then, last weekend, we got together with Sandy's brother Ray on Saturday, and followed that up with a Sunday get together with Ray's family and had a wonderful time! Not only were we able to catch up with Ray and Donna, but also 2 of their sons (Richard and John) and their families as well...oh and Grace too (an additional grand-niece who joined in for the fun). Nothing like some good quality family time to make you feel all warm and fuzzy!

Back at the dock...our friends from ACT III are back from their son's wedding, and our buddies on Corkscrew caught up with us here last night. If all goes according to plan (often it doesn't) we'll all head out on Wednesday and start our northward trek. This portion of the trip will present some different challenges moving forward. We are now entering a section where we will need to contend with 7 and 8 foot tides, and the currents that are associated with them. We'll have some spots where the both tides and currents will impact our travel schedules. We'll try our best to always be going with the current, but that won't always work. And, there are some known shallow spots that we will need to avoid in low-tide conditions. Plus, there are a few tricky crossings where wind, current and tide will all factor into our daily plan. All good challenges, and much fun to be had!